The agent of Giovani Dos Santos has made the extraordinary claim that Tottenham are holding the midfielder 'hostage' by preventing him from leaving the club.

The Mexico international has struggled to make an impact at White Hart Lane since completing a move from Barcelona back in the summer of 2008 and has found his first team opportunities severely limited.

Dos Santos has been repeatedly sent out on-loan during his four year stint with Tottenham and has been keen to secure a permanent move away from north London.

Giovani dos Santos
Dos Santos has struggled to make an impact at Spurs since leaving Barcelona [Reuters]

Tottenham have been working hard all summer to make a number of changes to their squad, however, Dos Santos' agent Vicente Montes believes that chairman Daniel Levy is taking a tough stance on the 23-year-old.

Montes maintains that there is interest from a number of clubs in Spain, but feels as though Levy is making it difficult for a permanent deal to be arranged.

"As yet, no concrete offer has arrived. Giovani still has one year left on his contract with Tottenham and the market is currently in a very difficult time," he told calciomercato.it, as reported on Sky Sports.

"The Spurs chairman is a tough obstacle to overcome, as confirmed by the (Luka) Modric deal.

"Dos Santos is held hostage by Tottenham, but at the end of his contract he'll have the opportunity to agree a deal with another club."

The attacking midfielder has made just 17 appearances in the league for Tottenham but it seems he has plenty of options, with Montes claiming there is interest from around Europe.

"Several teams have shown an interest in the past, such as AC and Inter Milan, Fiorentina, Genoa and AS Roma," continued Montes.

"Atletico Madrid? Yes, but there are also other interested clubs in Spain, including Sevilla, Espanyol, Granada and Malaga, who asked for information on the player.

"Serie A and La Liga are of great interest to Dos Santos."

Mexico London