Tottenham Hotspur 'launch £12.7m desperate bid for Tony Sanabria' but striker wants Real Betis move

Tony Sanabria's transfer saga is set for a new twist, after ABC had reported that Tottenham Hotspur have launched a last desperate attempt to hijack his move to Real Betis with a €15m (£12.7m, $16.6m) bid to Roma. Yet, AS claims that the Paraguay international has urged the Italians to let him to complete the move to the Andalusians as he wants to remain in Spain.

The 20-year-old striker has started one of the transfer sagas of the current window after having attracting the attention of a number of big clubs, following an impressive loan campaign at Sporting de Gijon, scoring 11 goals in 30 appearances.

Barcelona were the first to approach the Roma striker regarding a summer move to Nou Camp after he grew in La Masia. Yet, Tottenham emerged as the top candidate to secure his services as his agent, Raul Verdu, last month confirmed "contacts" to move to White Hart Lane.

Raul Verdu then told Tuttomeractoweb: "The rumours about Tottenham? I speak in general, there was some contact, but we will have to go over this with Roma. Right now the boy is at the Giallorossi. I will talk to [Roma sporting director] Walter Sabatini to decide how to move, at present there is nothing concrete about the future of Sanabria. We will see if there is news next week."

However, the saga suffered a U-turn last week after Real Betis new manager Gustavo Poyet personally called the striker to convince him to move to the Andalusian side instead. The teenager didn't think twice about the possibility to continue his progress in La Liga - where he will be able to secure more playing time - and has reportedly agreed personal terms to make the move.

Sport then claimed Betis had to convince Roma to part ways with the starlet. AS said that on Wednesday (6 July) the clubs reached an agreement in principle to complete the deal after Betis accepted to pay around €8m for 50% of Sanabria's rights.

Everything looks set for the player to complete his desired move to Betis but now ABC is reporting a further twist after Tottenham made a last ditch attempt to hijack the deal by offering €15m to Roma for 100% of his rights. The report added that the Andalusian side are starting to concede they will lose the battle because they can't match the bid.

However, AS believes that Sanabria's desire to play for Betis instead could still see Tottenham missing his services.