Tottenham make £13m bid for Sassuolo striker Simone Zaza

Tottenham have made a £13m bid for Sassuolo striker Simone Zaza, the Serie A club's director general Giovanni Carnevali has confirmed.

The Italian striker has had a breakthrough year in the Italian league this season and has put in some impressive performances for his club. This also earned the forward a call up to the Italy squad for the recent matches against England and Bulgaria.

Mauricio Pochettino has made strengthening his offensive department a priority ahead of the summer transfer window, after young Harry Kane shouldered the burden of scoring goals this season, due to the ineffectiveness of senior strikers Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor who both failed to find the net in the Premier League in 2015.

The duo have three goals between them the entire season, which has prompted the Argentine manager to scour the market for replacements ahead of next season.

Zaza not for sale… yet

Zaza has scored eight goals for Sassuolo thus far this campaign, was bought from Juventus during last summer's transfer window, and the Turin club have the option of resigning him at the end of the current campaign for £10.8m.

However, the director general has made it clear that they are not obligated to sell him and will make a decision on his future at the end of the season.

"Tottenham offered €18m [£13m] for Zaza, more than the figure Juventus will have to pay to sign him," Carnevali said, as quoted by Goal.

"Other clubs are interested in him. He will make the final decision about his future. We are not obligated to sell him."

"We have an excellent rapport with Juventus, but must also understand the real intentions of the Bianconeri and the player himself," the Sassuolo chief explained.