Tottenham transfer news: Everton open Moussa Sissoko talks after Spurs baulk at £35m asking price
Everton have entered the deadline-day race to sign Newcastle midfielder Moussa Sissoko.
The Merseyside club have opened talks with the Magpies over the 27-year-old France international after Tottenham baulked at the asking price.
Spurs tabled a £16million bid on Tuesday evening, way below owner Mike Ashley's price tag of £35million which was placed on the former Toulouse man in the wake of relegation from the Premier League at the end of last season.
Tottenham were told they could have the player for £30million and were even offered the chance to pay for him in five £6million instalments, but seem to have cooled their interest.
However Everton have now formalised their interest and the two clubs were in negotiations as the deadline loomed.
Sissoko has been agitating for a move away from St James' Park all summer, repeatedly speaking of his desire to play Champions League football, and he has been linked with a series of clubs including Real Madrid, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund.
His current employers have been less than impressed by his come-and-get-me pleas following a season during which he showed his best form only as Rafael Benitez attempted, ultimately unsuccessfully, to drag Newcastle out of a relegation tailspin.
The midfielder has not kicked a ball for the club during the new campaign, but with Ashley having no need to sell, his departure is by no means certain.
Big names Andros Townsend, Georginio Wijnaldum and Daryl Janmaat have all left Tyneside this summer, with the Dutchman departing for a sizeable profit as Benitez has re-built his squad for life in the Sky Bet Championship.
Meanwhile, the Magpies have allowed some of their younger players to go out on loan with striker Adam Armstrong and full-back Jamie Sterry joining Barnsley and Coventry respectively until January inside the last 24 hours.
