Tottenham Hotspur bid for Espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez as Hugo Lloris back-up

Tottenham Hotspur are in negotiations to secure the services of Espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez, according to Sport. The Spanish publication claims, however, that the deal will not be straightforward as Mauricio Pochettino's former side are demanding more than €5m (£4.2m, $5.6m) to part company with the player, plus the loan of defender Federico Fazio.

The 21-year-old keeper moved to the Espanyol prolific academy as a 12-year-old and progressed through the youth ranks to become number one last season following the departure of Kiko Casilla to Real Madrid.

His impressive campaign with the Catalan side was rewarded by Spanish manager Vicente Del Bosque in the summer with inclusion, alongside 10 other youngsters, in the preliminary squad ahead of the Euro 2016.

But Lopez's future at Espanyol has come under scrutiny since manager Quique Sanchez Flores secured the services of Roberto Jimenez from Olympiacos. The former Watford boss coached Jimenez during his time at Atletico Madrid and is expected to make him the first-choice keeper ahead of Lopez for the new campaign.

Sport claims that Lopez has been sounding out alternatives – and Tottenham could be his surprise destination. It claims that the under-21 Spain international has already had a formal offer to move to White Hart Lane.

Spurs already have Hugo Lloris and 32-year-old Michel Vorm for the role but Pochettino is said to consider Lopez an interesting prospect to back up the Frenchman.

The Spaniard will accept a secondary role at Tottenham as it would mean a big step up, both in salary and club profile, with Spurs competing in the Champions League this season, and he would prefer the Premier League to going on loan to a Serie A side.

Sport says, however, that the negotiations are currently stalled, though Spurs are expected to redouble the efforts in the coming days. The initial proposal from Spurs has been deemed insufficient, with Espanyol demanding more than €5m and the loan of Fazio, with an option to buy the Argentinian next summer. The La Liga side confirmed weeks ago that they are interested in signing the out-of-favour Tottenham defender.