Tottenham Readying £18m Bid to Dent Liverpool's Hopes of Signing Swansea's Wilfried Bony

Swansea City's Wilfried Bony is set to spark a tug-of-war as Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly preparing to dent Liverpool's chances of obtaining the striker by tabling a formal bid for him.

The Daily Mail claims the north London club have prepared an £18m bid in order to prevent the Ivory Coast international from moving to Anfield in the ongoing transfer window. Sky Sports' Pete O'Rourke suggested that the Reds are believed to have stepped up their efforts to sign the former Vitesse Arnhem star following the departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona.

The report states that Tottenham are of the opinion that Bony is not the first choice striker for Brendan Rodgers, who also has Arsenal target Loic Remy among his options. Both clubs are also believed to be interested in signing left-back Ben Davies.

Mauricio Pochettino's side have already been in talks with the Welsh club and had their offer of swapping Gylfi Sigurdsson for Davies and Michel Vorm rejected. The former Southampton boss is also keen on adding a striker on his roster at White Hart Lane and wants to prise Bony away from Liberty Stadium.

They were initially looking to acquire the services of Chelsea's Romelu Lukaku for £18m. Everton are also interested and while the Belgian international is considering all options, Pochettino's desire to sign him has quelled.

Swansea will not be keen on letting their top scorer leave cheaply with the player's agent Dalibor Lacina quoting a price of £20m.

Now which Premier League club will manage to secure Bony's signature for the upcoming campaign, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, former Norwich City and Leicester City striker Iwan Roberts believes the Ivorian certainly 'fits the bill' for Liverpool. The 25-year-old was Swansea's top scorer last season scoring 27 goals in all competitions.

"I'm not surprised Liverpool have shown an interest; it looks like they're losing Luis Suarez and they'll have £70-80m to spend. Bony fits that bill. He scores goals and can play that lone role," Roberts explained.

"He had an outstanding season, but that's the reason why he is on the radar of other clubs. The price has got to be right. I think if you're the Swansea chairman [Huw Jenkins] you wouldn't entertain anything below £20m after the season he had."

"Every player has got his price, we know that. If Wilfried is going to go then it'll be on Swansea's terms and not the player's, and not the club that's shown an interest," the 46-year-old concluded.