Mundo Deportivo have quite a different outlook on Pau Lopez to Tottenham Hotspur than their Catalan cousins Sport.
It’s Sport who have been giving regular updates every week or so for several months, and they believe a deal is close and everyone hopes things are sorted out before the end of the month.
The delay in agreement is because Tottenham, naturally, want a discount on their €7m buying option and Espanyol, who initially ruled out any chance of such, want to get as much for Pau as possible.
That need for the funds has come more into focus, with Mundo Deportivo saying a deal to sign Diego Lopez permanently from AC Milan is ‘a question of days’ away. It’s made clear that, as a result, Pau is out whatever happens.
That’s quite the fighting talk.
But how likely is it that Espanyol will get fed up with Tottenham’s bartering and look to sell elsewhere? It could all depend on discount and timing.
Tottenham’s clause is €7m, if the club offer €6m and immediate payment, it’s got to be likely Espanyol will take it.
If they offer €4m, and mess about over when it’s paid, then Espanyol may well feel they can get more elsewhere. It’s worth noting that if Tottenham don’t use their clause, and instead send Pau back, they have to pay Espanyol €500k on top of the €600k loan fee they’ve already paid.
Sport give the impression it’s pretty simple, Mundo Deportivo give a suggestion of Espanyol annoyance. Either way, things should finally be clearer at the end of the month.
