According to a report from Le Progres, Crystal Palace have become the front runners ahead of Tottenham to sign Danish defender Joachim Andersen for two main reasons.
The Eagles are said to be poised to pay Lyon an initial fee of £18.8 million for the 25-year-old defender, and they will also pay just over £4.2 million in bonus payments.
Tottenham were reportedly close to sealing a deal for Andersen earlier this summer when Jose Mourinho was still in charge in North London.
The Dane impressed on loan at Fulham last season and made 31 Premier League appearances, even scoring once against Leeds United.
However, Mourinho was sacked back in April, and Nuno Espirito Santo was eventually named as his replacement, while Italian Fabio Paratici was also hired as Tottenham’s new managing director of football.
These management changes reportedly saw Spurs cool their interest in Andersen, which opened the door for Palace and new manager Patrick Viera to make their move for the defender.
In the report by Le Progres, it was also stated that Palace offered more salary to the Dane than Spurs were offering.
Spurs Web Opinion:
Andersen would have been a great signing but I am equally happy that Spurs are not going for him because it seems as though Levy and Paratici are aiming above him in terms of quality. Kounde or Romero would be class signings to bring in this summer.
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