Tottenham Target Federico Fazio to Leave Sevilla in Next 24 Hours

Tottenham Hotspur appear to be on the brink of signing Federico Fazio, after Sevilla boss Unai Emery revealed the defender could leave the Spanish side as early as Saturday.

Mauricio Pochettino had been keen to bring Villarreal's Mateo Musacchio to the club, to bolster his defensive options, but the La Liga side's refusal to do business has seen Spurs consider alternatives.

The club are understood to have turned their attention to 27-year-old Fazio, who is available for a modest fee of £8m. The centre half is now likely to link up with his compatriot Pochettino in north London in a deal that could be announced before their meeting with Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.

"[Fazio] belongs to our squad, but he has very little, or almost no chance of being with us tomorrow," Emery told a press conference on Friday, according to a Seville-based daily Estadio Deportivo report.

"We cannot deny the reality, his evolution has such that he played the last game, the Supercopa (against Real Madrid), where he showed a very high level. And this last shop window has led to teams being interested.

"It is clear we would all prefer him to stay, but thinking about tomorrow's game (Sevilla's first game of the season against Valencia) we will have to look for someone else. Players leaving at the last minute has been a constant at Sevilla. I only want to wish him the best."

Emery also suggested that Fazio's new club are about to secure one of the bargains of the transfer window, believing his £8m release clause to be far too low for a player of his calibre.

"When I arrived he was a much-criticised player and almost going to leave for a much lower sum to this one," Emery continued.

"He has improved a lot, he renewed with much better conditions than he was offered previously, but his performance level has been so high that his clause has now become small. Fazio is worth more than that, but these are the rules of the game."

With Michael Dawson and Vlad Chiriches likely to leave Tottenham this summer, Fazio would join Jan Vertonghen, Younes Kaboul and Eric Dier as the club's options at centre half.