Tottenham continuing Edmond Tapsoba and Micky van de Ven talks
- Spurs are looking to strengthen Ange Postecoglou's options in central defence
- Talks are at advanced stage with both players but progress not as swift with Bayer Leverkusen & VfL Wolfsburg
- Tottenham negotiating with both clubs but may end up prioritising the signing of one player
Tottenham are continuing to work on deals for Bayer Leverkusen's Edmond Tapsoba and Wolfsburg's Micky van de Ven, 90min understands.
The two central defenders have been targeted as Spurs look to put a disappointing 2022/23 campaign firmly in the rear-view mirror - one that saw the club concede 63 goals en route to an eighth place finish in the Premier League, missing out on qualifying for Europe in the process.
Spurs, who appointed Ange Postecoglou as their new head coach at the beginning of June, have considered moves for Aymeric Laporte and Max Kilman among others, but have been actively pursuing for Tapsoba and Van de Ven over the past few weeks.
90min previously revealed that Spurs were concerned over rival interest in 24-year-old Tapsoba - Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle United among those being kept apprised of his situation - but were progressing talks are learning of his interest in moving to north London.
Those talks are still ongoing, with discussions with the player's representatives at an advanced stage, but there's work to do in terms of agreeing a deal with Leverkusen. Sources have confirmed to 90min that Xabi Alonso's side are looking to pocket around €50m (£42.5m) for Tapsoba - a fee Spurs may ultimately not need to pay if they're able to progress a deal for Van de Ven.
READ THE LATEST TOTTENHAM NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
feed
Wolfsburg value the Dutchman at around €40m (£34m), though he doesn't yet offer the same level as experience as Tapsoba. Van de Ven does, however, offer Spurs the versatility of being able to play at left-back as well as at centre-back, and he recently represented Netherlands at the Under-21 European Championship.
Talks are also at advanced stage with Van de Ven's camp - 90min previously revealed Spurs' confidence of concluding a deal - and discussions are ongoing with Wolfsburg about the proposed fee.
It's unclear at this stage whether or not Spurs are prepared to conclude deals for both players, or whether the club are simply putting themselves in a position of strength as pre-season gets underway.
Guglielmo Vicario and James Maddison have already arrived at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer, while Dejan Kulusevski's loan from Juventus has been turned into a permanent deal.
LISTEN NOW TO 90MIN'S TALKING TRANSFERS PODCAST
On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss Man Utd closing in on Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana, Chelsea's push for Moises Caicedo, Dusan Vlahovic, Romeo Lavia, the future of Real Madrid's Federico Valverde & more!
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!