Tottenham step up interest in unhappy Serie A attacker

Rob McCarthy

Tottenham have reportedly stepped up their interest in Lazio attacker Keita Balde after he blasted the Serie A outfit on Twitter.

The Senegal forward was fuming after being left out of the Italian Super Cup win over Juventus, who themselves have also been linked with the player.

But Lazio are refusing to sell to a domestic rival and that has left the door open for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, according to the report in The Sun.

For their part, Juve still believe a possible deal can be done with president Giuseppe Marotta admitting he had spoken to opposite number Claudio Lotito following his side’s defeat on Sunday.

He said: “There was a meeting with president Lotito and the proposal of a sum that was considered inappropriate by him.

“We will see if there will be a chance later, I do not know.”

Balde, who has also been linked with Liverpool and West Ham this summer, has 12 months left on his contract.

But after being snubbed for the Super Cup, he tweeted: “The lack of a call-up for the Super Cup Final has profoundly hurt me.

“It is the first important match of the season, for which I had prepared and was ready for action.

“The decision made by the club, which evidently had nothing to do with purely sporting criteria, puts me in a psychologically uncomfortable position and right now I don’t know how to evaluate the consequences of that.”