Exclusive: Tottenham Ready to Outbid Newcastle for Leverkusen Star Edmond Tapsoba

Tottenham Hotspur are ready to spend big to beat Newcastle United in the battle to sign Bayer Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.

Our sources have learnt 26-year-old centre-back Tapsoba has become one of Spurs’ top targets ahead of the start of the new Premier League season next month.

And even though rivals Newcastle are believed to have made an offer for the Burkino Faso international, Spurs believe they can win the race for his signature.

Tapsoba is under contract until June 2028 and it is understood a fee of £45million is what the German Bundesliga side are looking for before they are willing to do any business.

Leverkusen have already swooped to sign Jarell Quansah in a £35million deal from Premier League champions Liverpool.

And that means Tapsoba, who has been a mainstay of Leverkusen’s side the past six seasons, is available for sale if the price is right.

Leverkusen have also signed two more centre-backs in Tim Oermann and Abdoulaye Faye, as well as teenage defender Axel Tape this summer as they continue strengthening their back line.

INTERNATIONAL PEDIGREE

Tapsoba, capped 53 times by his country, has played 226 games for the club, including 157 in the Bundesliga.

Last season he played 43 games for the club, including games in the Champions League and German Cup.

Leverkusen finished second in the league behind champions Bayern Munich and are now managed by former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag.

But after six years at the BayArena, Tapsoba is understood to be happy to explore a new challenge – and playing in the Premier League is one of those desires.

He joined Leverkusen in a £15.7million deal plus £6million in adds in June 2019 and has been a regular starter since joining the club.

New Spurs boss Thomas Frank is believed to be a big admirer of the player and is keen to his summer signings so far of Mohammed Kudos, Mathys Tel, Kevin Danso, Luka Vuskovic and Kota Takai.