Tottenham and Arsenal have been boosted in the race to sign Montpellier midfielder Younes Belhanda, following comments from Ligue 1 club's owner. Louis Nicollin has admitted the 23-year-old could leave the 2011/12 French champions in the summer.

Younes Belhanda
Reuters

"The door is open for Younes to find a bigger club than ours. I don't know where yet but he wants to leave. It'll take €10m to €11m though. He's a boy I love, but we gave him a big salary after winning the title. Next year, we can't do that as we don't have the Champions League," Nicollin revealed.

The Moroccan international has had a good season with the club so far scoring 10 times from 27 Ligue 1 games. However, Montpellier have struggled to re-create last year's heroics and are eighth, with very little hope of making even the UEFA Europa League next season.

Belhanda was linked to both north London clubs in January, as well as Turkish side Fenerbahce. However, any move broke down after a failure to agree a transfer fee. The Express believes the two English clubs will return for the Moroccan in the summer.

Dempsey: City Win Will Motivate Spurs

Meanwhile, American international Clint Dempsey believes Spurs' 3-1 win over Manchester City will inspire the club to a top four finish this season. The White Hart Lane side are battling rivals Arsenal and Chelsea for the two remaining Champions League slots for next season, with only two points separating the three sides.

"It was a great spell to play in. Three different players scored, that gives confidence to the team and hopefully the result will give us that push for the final five matches of the season as we try to get into the top four," Dempsey explained.

"The result gives us a lift and hopefully we'll now get on a good run of form. We've had a bit of a rough patch and hopefully this will give us the lift we need to finish strong," the ex-Fulham player added.

Tottenham play Wigan, at the DW Stadium, on Saturday. Chelsea host Swansea City on Sunday, after a midweek Europa League trip to Switzerland to face FC Basel. And Arsenal have the task of hosting newly-crowned Premier League champions Manchester United on Sunday (and the possible ignominy of offering their rivals a guard of honour) at the Emirates.

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