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Spurs are keen to bring the 23-year-old Internacional striker to White Hart Lane this summer in a move that is independent to any potential deal for Emmanuel Adebayor

EXCLUSIVE
By Greg Stobart

Tottenham will step up their bid to sign Leandro Damiao this week with a formal bid worth around €19 million (£15m)for the Brazilian striker.

Spurs have chased Damiao for 18 months and could finally land the 23-year-old as his club Internacional are understood to be more open to selling their star man than a year ago.

Internacional vice-president Luciano Davi has claimed that the club have not received any offers for Damiao from Spurs they but are aware that Tottenham’s interest has intensified, while Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus have also been strongly linked with moves for the Brazil international.

Damiao is currently in England playing for the Brazil national team at the Olympics and his agent, Vinicius Prates, has also been in the country and held talks over personal terms with the Londoners.

The striker has previously suggested he would rather play in Serie A than join Tottenham, but the Premier League side are ready to launch a charm offensive to persuade him to re-unite with former Internacional team-mate Sandro at White Hart Lane.

Spurs have had a representative at each of Brazil's matches during London 2012, in which the forward has scored four goals in as many games to add to his record of 70 goals in 115 appearances during his time in Porto Alegre.

New Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has approved a renewed effort to sign Damiao as he looks to add two strikers to the squad before the start of the season, with Jermain Defoe currently his only senior striker.

The move for Damiao is understood to be independent of Tottenham's ongoing attempts to sign Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City.

Spurs have agreed a €5m (£4m) fee and €215,000-a-week (£170,000) wage package for the Togolese forward, who spent last season on loan at White Hart Lane, but Adebayor is in dispute with City after demanding the transfer fee be paid to him.

Tottenham are considering alternative targets to Adebayor but are still confident that the deal will go through, while Damiao is considered to fit the club's mould for prospective new signings as a young player with the potential to become a star.

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€215,000