Espanyol reject Tottenham Hotspur offer for Pau Lopez

Espanyol have rejected an opening offer of around €2m (£1.7m) from Tottenham Hotspur for the services of promising goalkeeper Pau Lopez, according to Sport. Sources close to the Spanish side have confirmed that a first bid has been turned down, but they expect Spurs to make an improved second offer as the 21-year-old starlet is a personal target for Mauricio Pochettino.

Sport had previously revealed the Argentine boss was after the Spain U21 goalie as one for the future, with him being expected to serve as back-up to Hugo Lloris in the short-term before eventually fighting the Frenchman for the number one role.

Pochettino knows the keeper from their time together at Espanyol, and has been impressed by his break through into the first team during the 2015-16 campaign following the departure of Kiko Casilla to Real Madrid.

Lopez's displays earned him a spot in the Spain preliminary squad ahead of Euro 2016, alongside 10 other youngsters. However, his future at Espanyol looks decidedly less bright after the appointment of new boss Quique Sanchez Flores, who immediately signed Roberto Jimenez from Olympiacos.

Sport reported on Monday (2 August) that Tottenham were ready to take advantage of the situation and lure the player to the Premier League.

The story suggested Lopez is eager to make the move to North London but negotiations are expected to be prolonged, as Espanyol are understood to be demanding €5m plus the loan of Federico Fazio.

Sport has now revealed that Spurs' opening bid was worth around the €2m mark.

The Spanish publication says Espanyol turned down the offer immediately as it was far from the fee they were expecting for the promising stopper.

Negotiations are not entirely broken though, as Espanyol are waiting for a second improved offer from Tottenham. The report adds that the Catalans still hope that Fazio could be included as part of the deal. However, reports in Italy have tipped the Argentine centre-back to move to Roma instead after manager Luciano Spalletti confirmed interest in luring the player to Serie A.