Tottenham in ‘direct contact’ for SECOND striker signing as Aston Villa hijack ignites

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly trying to hijack Aston Villa’s move to sign Nicolas Jackson, after making ‘direct contact’ over a deal to snap up the Chelsea forward before the transfer window shuts on September 1.

The north London outfit, who made a disastrous start to the new Premier League season after a 3-0 defeat at Brentford on Saturday, are on the brink of sealing a double deal for Manchester City attacking duo Savinho and Omar Marmoush.

Tottenham are expected to splash out a combined £140million on Savinho and Marmoush to improve a forward line that lacked a cutting edge last season and carried those struggles into the game against the Bees.

While Savinho is being added to operate on either flank, Marmoush is expected to provide goals as the club’s new No.9, with the distinct possibility that Richarlison leaves before the transfer deadline.

Roberto De Zerbi is known to favour Dominic Solanke, when fully fit, over Richarlison, but that’s the issue for the England forward – he just can’t stay away from the treatment table.

To that end, a report from Football FanCast claims that De Zerbi wants Jackson to add more firepower to his squad.

Indeed, the report states that Tottenham are currently in ‘direct contact’ with Chelsea over a move to sign the Senegal international ahead of Aston Villa.

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Tottenham exploring hijacking Jackson, Villa switch

It’s claimed that the north London outfit are keen to ‘understand the conditions to get a deal done’ before they ‘pull the trigger on another big-money move’.

Indeed, it’s reported that Chelsea are looking to recoup around £65m for Jackson, which could end up taking Tottenham’s summer spend to more than £400m for the summer window.

However, our sources indicate that Villa still remain in pole position for Jackson, who they have lined up to replace Ollie Watkins at Villa Park.

The England striker is said to have told Villa chiefs that he wants a move to the Saudi Pro League, after Al Hilal made a significant move to secure his signature.

Watkins’ exit would leave a large hole for Villa to fill and we understand that Jackson is ready to fill that void, with a deal between Villa and Chelsea further down the line than is currently being reported, according to our sources.

Jackson spent last season on loan at Bayern Munich after falling out of favour under Enzo Maresca, but still managed to notch 11 goals across 34 appearances in all competitions.

However, his future at Stamford Bridge now looks bleak, after the Blues brought in Danny Welbeck over the summer and also have Joao Pedro and Emmanuel Emegha on their books, although Liam Delap is also expected to move on.

Either way, it looks like Tottenham only have a slim chance to snap up Jackson ahead of Villa and will likely have to settle on Marmoush and Solanke as their main strikers for the first half of the new campaign.

Elsewhere, Tottenham have ‘informed’ one of their players he’s been put up for sale, and the angry star is now on course to join Galatasaray, according to reports.