Tottenham close to completing £8m signing of Juan Foyth

Tottenham are closing in on the signing of Argentina Under-20 international Juan Foyth from Estudiantes for a fee of around £8m ($10m).

The Daily Mail says Estudiantes president Juan Sebastian Veron will travel to London this weekend for talks with Spurs officials over the transfer of Foyth.

Former Manchester United and Chelsea midfielder Veron is known to have a close relationship with Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino from their days playing together for Argentina.

Foyth broke into the Estudiantes first team in January and represented Argentina at the Under-20 World Cup in South Korea last month. He can play as a centre-back or as a central midfielder.

While Tony Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen remain guaranteed starters at Spurs, doubts have emerged over the future of Eric Dier amid reports that the England international is keen on joining Manchester United.

Foyth, 19, could provide defensive cover for Spurs should Dier end up leaving in the summer.

United are understood to have sounded out Tottenham over a potential deal for Dier soon after the end of the season, but their approach was rejected. No further talks are believed to have taken place since then.

However, reports over the past week have suggested that the Red Devils have renewed their interest in the England international after their pursuit of Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic suffered a damaging blow.

United struck a £75m deal with Everton for Romelu Lukaku last week – a player that Chelsea boss Antonio Conte was also keen on signing.

Stung by losing the transfer battle for Lukaku, the Blues are reported to have pulled the plug on selling Matic to a direct rival.

Dier has four years left on his Spurs contract but is reported to be keen on moving to Old Trafford, where he would command significantly higher wages and a potential starting berth in United's midfield.

The England international's preference is to play in central midfield, but he was mostly deployed as part of back three alongside Alderweireld and Vertonghen by Pochettino last season.