Spurs Ready to Offer Player-Plus-Cash for £25m-Rated Belgian Striker – Report

Tottenham Hotspur are hoping that their proposal of cash plus one of four players for Christian Benteke will convince Aston Villa to allow the striker to make the move to White Hart Lane this summer.

The Belgium international handed in a transfer request earlier this week and Villa confirmed that they would be willing to sell the powerful striker if their valuation was met.

"In response to reports that Christian Benteke has not travelled to Germany with the club and has made a transfer request, we can confirm that both are accurate" read a club statement.

"Having received his transfer request, we have also informed him that should we receive an offer within an appropriate timeframe during pre-season which meets our valuation we would act upon it. But he will remain a Villa player should this not happen."

It is believed that Villa boss Paul Lambert would seek around £25m for Benteke but it seems Tottenham are hoping to lower that asking price by offering the services of one of their squad players.

The Sun reports that Spurs will offer Villa the chance to sign one of Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone, Benoit Assou-Ekotto or Jake Livermore, as well as making a serious cash offer in exchange for Benteke.

Tottenham value the striker at £20m and would prefer to negotiate with the Midlands club in order so that they do not have to make one large payment.

Villa are understood to prefer a straight cash deal but it is likely that there will be offers from several Premier League sides after Benteke scored 19 league goals in his debut season with the club.

The former Genk striker is reportedly a target for two other London clubs in Arsenal and Chelsea, but it seems Tottenham are hoping that can enter into negotiations early so that they win the race for the 22 year old.

Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas is hoping to sign another striker this season and has already missed out on one target when David Villa decided to join Atletico Madrid from Barcelona.