Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido has confirmed that negotiations between his club and Tottenham over Didier Zokora have stalled over the Premier League outfit’s valuation of the midfielder.
Spanish side Sevilla have been tracking the Ivory Coast international for some time now, and Zokora’s agent confirmed earlier in the week that Spurs’ asking price was holding up any potential transfer.
After the sides agreed compensation on Monday for the switch from Seville to North London of manager Juande Ramos in October 2007, they decided to reconvene over their Zokora negotiations at a later date due to the disparity in their ideas on the 28-year-old’s market value.
With Del Nido admitting that Sevilla have a back-up plan should their pursuit of Zokora fall through, the likelihood of a switch now looks less certain.
“Since we met with Tottenham on Monday to agree compensation for the departure of Juande Ramos, we have not spoken to them again since,” Del Nido told Sevilla’s radio station.
“It is true that first contact was made in Madrid with the chairman of Tottenham, Jose Maria Cruz (general director) and Monchi (sporting director), and that the distance between what they asked for and what we are willing to offer was so great that we left it there, and decided to speak again in the near future.”
Del Nido continued: “Zokora is not the only option. The number two on the list is just as valid an option as Zokora, and is even younger
“We requested permission from Tottenham to talk to him because we wanted to know what his disposition was, and he would be very excited to play in a competition he never has before in the Champions League.
“But we must deal with a level head. We have spent several million euros and want to guarantee after it all that we have a squad capable of being champions.”