Tottenham Considering Surprise Swoop For €24m Enforcer Who Rejected Arsenal – Report

Tottenham are considering a surprise swoop for Luis Gustavo, reports claim, with the Brazilian starring for Wolfsburg after turning down a move to Arsenal in the summer.

Gustavo was believed to be a top priority for Arsene Wenger in the most recent transfer window, having struggled for game time with a rampant Bayern Munich side in the 2012-13 season.

But he chose a move to Wolfsburg instead and though he had a shaky start to the season - receiving two red cards within his first three matches - the 26 year old has been promising for the club and Andre Villas-Boas reportedly believes that he will team up well with Paulinho and Sandro to create a Brazilian core in the Tottenham squad.

Portuguese paper Record are claiming that the manager is hoping that despite the star's refusal to join Arsenal he might still consider a move to north London in January if he is promised maximum game time in the lead-up to the 2014 World Cup.

Arsenal are believed to still be monitoring Gustavo's situation and are aware of a release clause that exists in his contract. The Portuguese publication claim that this is around €24m, a rise of €8m from the fee that the Bundesliga side signed Gustavo for in the summer.

Wolfsburg sporting director Klaus Allofs admitted recently that for the right price the Brazil international would leave the club, telling reporters: "Even at VfL [Wolfsburg] nobody is unsellable.

"For me it is important that we show [players] that we are willing to negotiate if an offer is made that is reasonable in a sporting sense and also makes good business sense for VfL."

With Tottenham currently on the brink of re-entering the top four and mounting a serious challenge for Champions League qualification Villas-Boas is believed to be willing to spend big in January to make sure the side bucks a recent trend of losing their momentum when the season hits the business end.