Tottenham and Juventus now lead the battle to land Lyon midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.
Lyon are believed to be setting an asking price in the region of £87million (€100m).
L'Equipe reports Ndombele is still being heavily pursued by Paris Saint Germain and Manchester United, though the latter have fallen off the pace due to their own internal issues surrounding Paul Pogba's future.
The influence of Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, who has good relations with Lyon and has shown previously his shrewd ability in getting deals done.
Spurs are ready, despite their financial cautiousness in recent years, to offer an attractive deal to Ndombele, while claiming Juventus have already submitted a bid for Ndombele.