Pau Lopez move to Tottenham Hotspur imminent

Pau Lopez could complete his long-desired move from Espanyol to Tottenham Hotspur as early as today (23 August), according to AS. The Spanish publication says Spurs have recently stepped up negotiations to secure the player's signature, and the keeper is just waiting to receive the green light from his parent club to move to London.

The Spanish under-21 international goalie has been heavily linked with a move to White Hart Lane this summer, with Mauricio Pochettino earmarking the signing of the player he promoted to Espanyol's first team during his tenure in Catalonia.

That interest was stepped up after Hugo Lloris suffered a hamstring injury in the Premier League opener against Everton.

Over the weekend Sport revealed that following weeks of negotiations – and several rejected offers – the Premier League side and Espanyol had reached a verbal agreement for Lopez to move to Spurs until the end of the season for a fee of €600,000 (£515,000, $680,000), with an option to make it permanent for €7m.

Lopez is understood to be keen on the move after falling out of favour at Espanyol. The club's new manager, Quique Sánchez Flores, signed Roberto Jiménez from Olympiacos to be his number one this season, having previously coached the player at Atletico Madrid.

Sky Sports cast doubt on the deal recently, revealing that Espanyol had turned down yet another offer for the player – and Lopez sat on the bench during the club's La Liga defeat to Sevilla in the opening game of the season.

But AS now claims Spurs stepped up negotiations to bring the deal closer than ever. Reports add that Lopez could make his last training appearance under Sanchez Flores today, before travelling to the Premier League outfit in the coming hours.

AS insists that the figures provided by Sport over the weekend are correct. Yet, they add that Espanyol are set to include a clause in the agreement for Tottenham to pay a compensation fee in case they decide against making the deal permanent at the end of the season.

Lopez would become Pochettino's third signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Victor Wanyama and striker Vincent Janssen.