Tottenham's £17m Move for Croatian Wonderkid Blocked by Midfielder's Father – Report

Tottenham have once again failed to agree a deal for Dinamo Zagreb playmaker Alen Halilovic after the player's father refused to allow his son to make the move without guarantees of regular first team action.

The north London club were heavily linked with Halilovic over the course of the summer and were reportedly in talks to sign the 17 year old and his then teammate Tin Jedvaj.

However, a deal was never completed and Jedvaj would eventually move to Roma as Halilovic decided to remain with Dinamo in order to continue his development and gain regular first team football.

Now reports in Italy are suggesting that Tottenham have once again failed to convince the Croatian club to part with their young midfielder despite being prepared to offer around £17m for his services.

The Express reports that the Croatian starlet, who has been compared to former Spurs playmaker Luka Modric, has a release clause of just £13m but it seems Tottenham were prepared to offer well in advance of this figure.

Halilovic's contract will come to an end this summer and there is a suggestion that Dinamo are keen to cash in on the midfielder.

Yet it seems Spurs will have to convince Halilovic Snr who works as a coach at Dinamo and is keen to make sure that his son moves to a club where he will receive regular playing time.

Reports state that Sejad Halilovic wants a clause written into his son's contract that would guarantee him a certain number of first team appearances in which he plays at least 45 minutes.

Whether Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas would be prepared to meet this demand is still to be seen as it is likely Halilovic would be used more as a squad player because of the amount of talented midfielders already in the squad.

Spurs are certainly keen on landing the young midfielder, who has already displayed his quality on the international stage by representing Croatia on three occasions, but it seems negotiations will run for some time.