Giannelli Imbula
Giannelli Imbula looks on his way to Valencia. Reuters

Tottenham Hotspur have received a huge blow in their attempts to sign Mauricio Pochettino target Giannelli Imbula after the father and agent of the coveted Marseille midfielder revealed his son "wants to play at Valencia" instead.

Recent reports claimed Spurs have the France under 21 international on their radar regarding a summer move and, with Marseille demanding around £12m (£18.5m) to secure his services, the North London side were ready to offer Benjamin Stambouli to the French club as part of a deal.

Valencia and Inter Milan were also said to be interested in securing his services while Marseille president Vincent Labrune recently gave renewed hope to the suitors confirming that, having received several offers for the player, the club are ready to part ways with him before the end of the month to balance their books.

"Today Imbula has four or five clubs after him. We have offers for several players. If we have an offer that we like, we will open the door. We have never had as many offers for as many players as we do now. [Florian Thauvin, Imbula and [Dimitri] Payet have a lot of offers. We have to sell someone before the 30th June in line with what we agreed with the DNCG," he said.

But while Imbula's father, Willy Ndangi, who recently confirmed offers from a number of clubs, has now claimed he is likely to move to the La Liga side Valencia.

Asked by Valencia based-newspaper Super Deporte whether Imbula would be interested in a move to Mestalla, his father responded: "It is a great place to play football. My son would like to... he wants to play at Valencia."

Meanwhile, Super Deporte claims that the negotiations between the La Liga side and Marseille are also advancing.