Marca go with a headline in their Tuesday edition reading ‘The signing of a goalkeeper delays the announcement of the departure of Pau’.
The Spanish newspaper explain Tottenham are being held off announcing a deal because Espanyol want to bring in a replacement first.
Therefore Tottenham have to wait for the Espanyol deal to be completed, then complete and announce their own Pau deal.
Espanyol’s reluctance to allow the transfer to be completed or announced may be a little petty, unless they genuinely have any intention to stop the deal if they can’t find a replacement.
It’s not as though Tottenham’s pursuit of Pau is secret, and therefore Espanyol don’t want clubs knowing they’re getting a transfer fee, and can spend it.
The club themselves have publicly admitted talks are ongoing, even saying the management at Espanyol was “ready for his departure”.
