Harry Redknapp has been forced to abort plans to bring Roma striker Mirko Vucinic to White Hart Lane after the Montenegro man opted to move to Serie A rivals Juventus.
Tall order: Fernando Llorente is a target once again for Tottenham
Spurs have kept tabs on Llorente, who scored 19 goals last season in La Liga, for some time but were put off by his enormous ?34million buyout clause, a figure that has also proved restrictive for Manchester United in the past.
The sum forced the north London club to re-evaluate their targets, with Villarreal's Guiseppe Rossi shooting to the top of the wanted list, with an asking price of ?6m less than Llorente.
Vucinic's availability at half the figure of Italy international Rossi was Spurs' contingency plan, but with that now dead in the water, Tottenham have resigned themselves to paying top price for the goalscorer they desperately need.
Snub: Mirko Vucinic opted for Juventus rather than Tottenham
Spurs missed out on Champions League qualification last season having experienced Europe's premier competition just once. They scored seventeen goals fewer than arch-rivals Arsenal who finished above them again in the race for the top four.
The club's coffers are likely to be swelled by the ?30m+ from the impending sale of Luka Modric to Chelsea, while they will also consider bids for their entire frontline, including Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko.
?CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE FANTASY FOOTBALL GAMETottenham concede they will sell Modric if Chelsea can tempt them with a big enough offerLukaku in no rush to join Chelsea as Anderlecht striker considers his optionsChelsea manager Villas-Boas weighs up third bid for Spurs star Modric
Source: Daily Mail
Source: Daily Mail