Tottenham are hopeful they can outmanoeuvre Chelsea in the race to sign RB Leipzig forward Xavi Simons. The Bundesliga side has confirmed that they have allowed the Dutch attacker to travel to London for direct talks. Simons had been holding out for a move to Stamford Bridge after verbally agreeing personal terms with the Blues earlier this summer.

However, Chelsea have been focusing their efforts on making room with Enzo Maresca's squad which has provided Spurs with a window of opportunity. Having missed out on both Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze - Tottenham have been working on agreeing terms with the 22 year old before consolidating their push in negotiations with Leipzig, who are demanding a £60million package.

Spurs would be willing to reach that figure and are now racing to get a move over the line before Chelsea formalise their interest following the sale of Christopher Nkunku to AC Milan.

The Italian giants are paying an initial £30.25m plus a further £6m in bonuses for the Frenchman which is expected to accelerate the Blues' plans to bring in further attacking reinforcements.

Chelsea have also held talks for Barcelona's Fermin Lopez and remain close to agreeing a fee with Manchester United for Alejandro Garnacho after the Argentine winger snubbed multiple approaches from the Premier League, Bayern Munich and Saudi Arabia to push through his impending switch to west London.

As of last night, the world champions were still undecided on whether they would bid for Simons amid talks with Bayern Munich for wantaway striker Nicolas Jackson.

Meanwhile, Tottenham have also held initial background discussions with the representatives of West Ham attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta, who is also on Aston Villa's radar.

Thomas Frank's side are yet to rule out making two marquee additions to their frontline before Monday's transfer deadline.

The crisis-hit Hammers would command a £60m package for the Brazilian and are unlikely to warm to the idea of selling a second star player to a direct rival in Tottenham after already cashing in on Mohammed Kudus last month.

Spurs courted Manchester City attacker Savinho but a move was blocked by the Etihad Stadium hierarchy even though the Europa League champions were prepared to put big money on the table.

A swoop for France U21 international starlet Maghnes Akliouche also looks difficult at this stage as his current employers Monaco are already in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over the possible sale of fellow forward Eliesse Ben Seghir.