Tottenham told they'll have to pay £18.85m to capture keeper Lopez

They have been scouting Lopez along with Espanyol's first-choice keeper Carlos Kameni, with manager Juande Ramos looking to replace Paul Robinson next season.

Ramos has yet to decide which keeper he wants but admires Lopez and feels he may be more of a calm influence in the penalty area than Kameni.

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But Villarreal are determined to keep the 26-year-old, whose contract runs out in 2011.

A club spokesperson said: "Diego Lopez has a value in the market of 24million euros [£18.85m] and this sum is the only one that we would study for the player's possible sale.

"We have not received a formal offer for the kid but the presence of foreign scouts to watch our players is not rare."

Lopez added: "My challenge is to show a good level every day and I am not obsessed with the rumours in the papers."

Kameni has already told Espanyol he wants to join Spurs in the summer and is available at the much cheaper price of £4.5m.

It could be the decisive factor, although Spurs maintain their financial position is still strong despite their main backer Joe Lewis losing £500m due to the collapse of American bank Bear Stearns.

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Lewis, who controls the club's parent company, Enic, has already reassured chairman Daniel Levy that he will not have to sell the club to make up for his shortfall.

The 70-year-old was named as the 16th richest Briton in the Sunday Times rich list last year with a personal fortune of £2.5billion and still has plenty of funds at his disposal.

Spurs' bank balance is also in good health having made a pre-tax profit of £27m on a turnover of £103m from their accounts ending June 30, 2007, although the current economic downturn is making their plans of rebuilding or moving away from White Hart Lane more problematic.

Meanwhile, striker Darren Bent has warned his team-mates that Chelsea will be out to avenge their Carling Cup Final defeat in the league match at White Hart Lane tomorrow night.

He said: "It will be a tough game and we don't want the season to dip. It will be interesting. They will be extra pumped-up."