Tottenham agree £9m deal for Espanyol striker Luis Garcia after fending off rivals Benfica

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Spurs made their first move for Garcia at the start of the month and after lengthy discussions the 27-year-old is set to complete his £9.5million move next week.

Espanyol claimed today Spurs are still among 'a group of clubs who are ready to make a concrete bid', with Portuguese side Benfica thinking they were favourites to sign the Spain international.

Luis Garcia

But Spurs appear to have stolen a march on their rivals after a meeting with Garcia’s
agents and Espanyol’s lawyer, Vicente Montes, last night.

Garcia, who prefers to play as the second striker or on the left, has developed into a key player at Espanyol having started his career in Real Madrid’s youth ranks before
achieving moderate success with Real Murcia and Real Mallorca.

He helped them win the Spanish Cup in 2006 and the following season finish runners-up in the UEFA Cup to Sevilla, who were then led by current Spurs coach Juande Ramos.

He was Espanyol’s top scorer in the league last term with 13 goals, but made it clear he would be happy to move clubs this summer.

Garcia is now expected to arrive in north London early next week to undergo a medical and finalise personal terms.

If the deal goes through, it will spark fresh speculation that one of Tottenham’s three
strikers — Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Darren Bent — is set to leave White
Hart Lane.

Spurs have already spent more than £30m on new players this summer and need transfer funds to boost their bid for Blackburn winger David Bentley.

Manager Juande Ramos, however, could face a fight to keep hold of Keane after Rafael Benitez admitted his club had 'been in contact' with Spurs.

After ruling out a move for Valencia’s David Villa, the Liverpool boss said of Keane: 'He is one of the other names. We were in contact and we will see now.'