On June 21st, France’s Foot Mercato reported a €25m Tottenham offer for Nice’s Alassane Pléa. The 25 year old was presented as a Spurs alternative to Manchester United’s Anthony Martial.

A few days after that, France’s RMC backed the idea of an offer up, claiming Tottenham had pushed a €26m bid to Nice. The slight difference would suggest both sources were told the amount in £ and converted it differently.

Friday’s edition of L’Equipe takes a sledgehammer to both claims.

The French newspaper report an offer from Borussia Monchengladbach of €18m. That isn’t enough for Nice, partly because they’re contracted to pay 20% of any transfer fee to the player’s former club Lyon.

On the reported claims of an offer from Mauricio Pochettino’s side, L’Equipe are very clear: ‘Tottenham has absolutely not submitted an offer to Nice to buy the contract of the attacker.’

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It’s unlikely Foot Mercato and RMC got their claims from thin air, but it’s also unlikely L’Equipe aren’t being straight.

It may well be that an offer has been spoken of, but not made formally, or that an agent is trying to build a deal at the Nice end without the full authority of Tottenham.