Tottenham will turn down the option to sign Carlos Vinicius permanently for £36m, as they will instead offer £17m for the forward, according to reports.
After spending time at Santos and Palmeiras as an academy player, Vinicius joined Napoli for around €4m in 2018 from Gremio.
The forward failed to make a senior appearance for the Italian giants, as he had loan spells with Rio Ave and Monaco.
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The Brazillian’s time at Rio Ave was particularly impressive, as he scored eight times from 14 games for them in the Primeira Liga.
These loan moves tempted Benfica to sign him for a fee of around €17m in July 2019. Vinicius enjoyed a superb debut season for the Portuguese side.
He was their second top goalscorer last term as he netted 24 times from his 47 appearances across all competitions.
This form alerted the attention of Tottenham, who were keen to bring in a forward to deputise for Harry Kane.
Spurs confirmed the signing in October, as Vinicius joined on a season-long loan from Benfica. This deal has an option-to-buy clause for a fee believed to be around £36m.
The striker has struggled for game time so far this campaign. Given the form of Kane, most of his outings have come in Europe and in cup competitions.
Vinicius has played 19 times for Spurs in all competitions this season. He has scored nine goals, which includes a hat-trick against Marine in the FA Cup.
The 25-year-old has performed well in the Europa League, as he has six goals and three assists from his eight appearances. But he has only started once in the Premier League this term.
The Daily Mail have reported that Tottenham are unwilling to pay £36m for the forward this summer. Despite this, the club does still want to sign him permanently.
The report adds that Spurs will offer £17m for Vinicius, which is around £3m more than Benfica signed him for in 2019.
It is also suggested that Vinicius would like to remain at Spurs and meetings have been set up between his representatives and Benfica’s board.
The post Tottenham unwilling to pay £36m for Vinicius this summer appeared first on Football365.