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Tottenham interest in a centre-half who excelled in the Premier League last season will come to nothing after a London rival edged closer to an agreement, per multiple reports.

After a sluggish start, Spurs’ summer window has clicked into gear after Fabio Paratici and Nuno Espirito Santo were installed as sporting director and manager respectively. The ongoing uncertainty surrounding Harry Kane will dominate Tottenham fans’ thinking. Nevertheless, several irons are in the fire regarding new recruits.

Perhaps their greatest need is at centre-back. Nuno often deployed a back three with Wolves and could do the same in North London.

Even if a traditional centre-half pairing is retained, however, reinforcements could be required. That’s because doubts over the futures of Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez have surfaced.

As such, Tottenham have been linked with a plethora of targets including Takehiro Tomiyasu, Cristian Romero, Jules Kounde and Joachim Andersen.

In Andersen’s case, a move this summer always appeared on the cards. The Lyon star put himself in the shop window after impressing while loaned out to Fulham last year.

The Cottagers suffered relegation, though that was despite the Dane’s displays rather than because of.

Spurs had been credited with interest along with Man Utd, but they’re both on the verge of losing out to Crystal Palace.

That’s according to both trusted journalist Fabrizio Romano and the Daily Mail.

Romano tweeted 25-year-old Andersen is set to ‘select Crystal Palace from many options as next club.’ An agreement is described as being ‘close’ with talks ‘progressing’ over a permanent deal.

The Mail shed further light on the situation, revealing the deal will cost Palace around £20m. They are deemed ‘hopeful’ of concluding negotiations this week.

New Eagles boss Patrick Vieira has an even greater need than Tottenham to land new centre-halves.

Scott Dann, Mamadou Sakho and Gary Cahill have all left in free agency. Chelsea’s Marc Guehi signed for £15m, though he will not be the last arrival in the position.

Former Liverpool defender Ozan Kabak is another target with Schalke open to his exit. The Mail report a deal for the Turkey international could cost £10m.

Tottenham transfer puts second deal in serious jeopardy

Meanwhile, Sevilla have reportedly placed a €70million (£60million) price tag on defender Jules Kounde after an approach by Tottenham.

The 22-year-old has caught the eye of many other Premier League clubs including Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea. But it seems as though the centre-half will not be leaving Spain this summer, according to Marca.

They reports that after the setting the purchase price for Kounde, the club is confident in keeping their key player. In fact, Spurs’ acquisition of the imminent arrival of winger Bryan Gil from Sevilla pushed Kounde’s asking price up.

The extra income from the cash-plus-player deal has provided a financial boost to the Spanish club. As such,  they no longer need to sell their most prized assets after a cash-strapped year due to the pandemic.

Thus, Sevilla have upped their selling price for Kounde. The defender had previously outlined his ambitions to move to a bigger European club, including a transfer to Tottenham.

READ MORE: Tottenham launch swap deal pursuit of in-demand EFL forward

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