Tottenham make initial offer to beat Manchester United for Bordeaux winger Malcom

Tottenham Hotspur made an attempt to steal a march on Manchester United by submitting a bid for Bordeaux hotshot Malcom, but their offer was out rightly rejected by the French club.

The Red Devils have been leading the charge to bring the Brazilian winger to England, and are said to have held talks with the Ligue 1 club about signing Malcom in January, while the winger has also admitted that he is open to joining the 20-times English champions.

Jose Mourinho has had the Brazilian scouted on numerous occasions this season, and certain to have been impressed with his performances. He has scored seven goals and assisted four in 18 games this season, which has attracted interest from a number of clubs across Europe.

Apart from Spurs and United, Premier League rivals Arsenal are also said to be monitoring the situation, but are yet to make a formal offer. Mauricio Pochettino's team look to be the first to have made a bid for Malcom's services.

According to the Daily Mail, via Brazilian publication Esporte, the White Hart Lane outfit made a bid of €35m (£31m) to bring Malcom to the Premier League, but it was swiftly rejected by Bordeaux, who are not keen on selling the winger midway through the season. The report claims that the French club will demand close to £50m in order to allow him to leave the club.

The 20-year-old Brazil Under-23 international is contracted to the Ligue 1 club until 2021, but does not have a release clause in his contract. The report claims that Malcom has a gentlemen's agreement with the club that they will allow him to leave next summer.

Mourinho, however, is said to be keen on bringing him to Old Trafford in January and could make a more concrete effort with news that Tottenham is trying to hijack the move with a bid of their own. Arsene Wenger is also said to be an admirer and could be tempted to make a move especially since Alexis Sanchez looks to be on the way out either in January or in the summer.