Tottenham have been unusually quiet on the transfer front this summer but Daniel Levy must be pulling what little hair he has left out at the roots after the events of the last few days.

First Southampton called a halt to the mass exodus by putting up the “sale over” signs just as the Tottenham chairman was preparing to snuffle Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez away at rock-bottom prices. Next he had to endure Brendan Rodgers having a not so sly dig at last season’s £100m White Hart Lane splurge by insisting the Luis Suárez cash would not be frittered away like the Gareth Bale money. “It’s a different club and different vision we have here – at Liverpool there’s a strategy behind what we are doing,” sniped the Anfield manager. And how Levy will have watched in envy as Roberto Martínez talked about the “real football statement” Romelu Lukaku made in choosing to move to Everton from Chelsea for £28m.

Levy may have to find solace in cold hard cash if stories from Spain suggesting Atlético Madrid are sniffing around Erik Lamela are to be believed. Apparently Diego Simeone is so convinced he can bring the best out of his fellow Argentinian he will bid £21.5m bid for the former Roma winger, and is prepared to go higher to get his man. Tottenham’s less fearsome but slightly more suave Argentinian, Mauricio Pochettino, is saying no dice, and is instead concentrating on bringing in another Eric instead, having lined up a £4m deal for Sporting Lisbon’s Portuguese-English defender Eric Dier. That deal is close to completion.

After selling Lukaku and loaning Ryan Bertrand to Southampton for a year, José Mourinho will continue to purge Chelsea of young talent by farming out Christian Atsu to Sunderland for the season. Victor Moses is a target for Aston Villa, while Sunderland have made an offer for the Lazio full-back Luis Cavanda and is still hopeful of securing a deal for Liverpool’s Fabio Borini.

Manchester United could announce the £60m signing of Arturo Vidal within days, and have been encouraged by the news that Juan Cuadrado’s proposed move to Barcelona has stalled. Fiorentina want in the region of £30m for the Colombian.

QPR are close to signing the Ajax striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson after the Dutch club’s director of football, Marc Overmars, reported “some good discussions” with Harry Redknapp over this week’s top, top player. The two clubs are close to agreeing a fee. Jack Cork is being targeted by West Brom after Alan Irvine chose to ignore the “hands off” warning Southampton issued to Levy. And Crystal Palace are on the tail of Steven N’Zonzi, whom Tony Pulis signed for Stoke in August 2012 for £3.5m.