Zokora talks stall

Spanish side reluctant to meet Tottenham's asking price

Last updated: 19th June 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Zokora talks stall

Zokora: Sevilla move becoming less likely

Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Sevilla look set to call off their pursuit of Didier Zokora after they were not prepared to meet Spurs' asking price.

The Spanish side's president Jose Maria del Nido has not completely ruled out a transfer, but says he has an alternative to Zokora already in mind.

In a recent meeting to agree a compensation deal for Jaunde Ramos' switch from Sevilla to Tottenham in 2007, the two clubs decided to postpone negotiations until a later date.

"Since we met with Totenham on Monday to agree compensation for the departure of Juande Ramos, we have not spoken to them since," del Nido told Sevilla's radio station.

Contact

"It is true that first contact was made in Madrid with the chairman of Tottenham, Jose Maria Cruz (general director of Sevilla) and Monchi (sporting director), and that the distance between what they asked for and what we are willing to offer was so great that we left it there, and decided to speak again in the future."

The president also said that he had a back-up plan in place if the Zokora deal does eventually fall through.

"Zokora is not the only option. The number two on the list is just as valid an option as Zokora, and is even younger," he added.

"We requested permission from Tottenham to talk to him because we wanted to know what his disposition was, and he would be very excited to play in a competition he never has before in the Champions League.

"But we must deal with a level head. We have spent several million euros and want to guarantee after it all that we have a squad capable of being champions."