Tottenham manager André Villas-Boas has spoken to Brazilian sports newspaper Lance! about his time at the club thus far, including his pursuit of Brazil internationals Willian and Leandro Damião.

Vote for Willian and Sandro in the Samba Gold trophy

The Portuguese manager confirmed the club’s interest in both players and confirmed that the club had made an approach for Shakhtar midfielder Willian, but insisted that it would be difficult to make a deal for the €30 million valued player.

The interest in Damião appears to be at a more preliminary stage. However, the Spurs boss was clear that the club do retain an interest in the highly-rated striker.

“We made contact with Willian and he was one of the players who we were interested in,” Villas-Boas confirmed. “I like his work, but we had a point where we had to stop—we couldn’t meet his valuation. When it’s like that, it’s difficult, so we left the negotiation.

“Shakhtar are a difficult club to negotiate with. They know the value of Willian, they don’t need money, they don’t need help. They can keep hold of their players.”

Regarding Internacional striker Leandro Damião, the Portuguese added: “Leandro had a great Olympics. There are many interesting players, there are many here also—we are satisfied. But, obviously we will follow the best players and youngsters and Leandro fits this profile.

“We are watching his progression. After the Olympics he had injuries and didn’t play a lot. If he is within our limits, he is always on our list.”

Source: Lancenet