Tottenham Hotspur are holding out for a late £20m bid for £30m-rated Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, according to the Sun. The striker is yet to sign a new contract with Villa and is likely to make his way out of the club if the North London club land a bid for the player.

Paul Lambert has recently announced that the player will only be available if clubs pay "silly money" for his signature. The Belgian has taken the Premier League by storm following his transfer from Genk last season, scoring 19 goals in the league in only 34 appearances. His form helped the Villans survive in the Premier League and the Villa manager is trying his best to tie the player to a better contract so as to keep him at the club next season.

Christian Benteke
Reuters

"It is going to take very silly money for Villa to part with Benteke. Clubs who are interested know they will have to break the bank to sign Christian," Lambert said.

However, the player himself is moving out of the club and has insisted that Villa won't be able to restrict him from transferring to a bigger club if the chance arises.

"If Aston Villa say I must stay, I won't necessarily accept that. I do not in any way want to feel I didn't get the most out of my career. I try to get everything. There is no point in me getting into a tug-of-war with Villa. If the chance comes up for me to join a club like Arsenal, I'm convinced we can reach a compromise where everyone comes out a winner," Benteke said.

Tottenham are planning a restructure of their squad this summer, with Andre Villas-Boas having reportedly been handed a £50m transfer fund to spend this summer. The North London club have already secured the signing of Paulinho and are in the market for a striker to replace either Emmanuel Adebayor or Jermain Defoe. Spurs have also been linked with a move for Barcelona striker David Villa and are reportedly planning a £17m bid for long term striker target Leandro Damiao.

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