The two north-easterly rivals are believed to be about to go toe-to-toe for the signing of out-of-favour Spurs winger, Andros Townsend, according to The Mirror.
Townsend has been inconsistent to say the least since he first broke into the team at the start of the 2013/14 season, and Mauricio Pochettino clearly doesn’t feel there is a place in his side for the, at times, frustrating wide man.
Townsend’s case was not helped when, at the start of the month, he had a well-publicised spat with fitness coach Nathan Gardiner during the post-Aston Villa warm down. This led to public criticism from the Spurs boss and resulted in his expulsion from the match-day squad for the following games.
Since then, Townsend has played for the under 21’s and while he is now back on the subs bench, both Sam Allardyce and Steve McClaren will back themselves to sign the England international.
With the two rivals in deep bother in terms of league position, the respective managers will hope a revitalised Townsend will help lift them from the bottom of the table, with a return to the form he showed when he broke into the England team.
Daniel Levy is reportedly asking for £7.5 million for Townsend which would represent a good piece of business for a player who has been sparsely used over recent months, especially as Spurs look to find support for Harry Kane.
