Tottenham have won the race to sign Espanyol striker Luis Garcia and are expected to seal a £9.5 million deal next week.

Spurs made their first move for the 27-year-old at the start of the month and the two clubs have now reached an agreement after lengthy negotiations in Barcelona.

Espanyol claimed today that Tottenham 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 Spanish international.

But Spurs appear to have stolen a march on their rivals for his signature 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 scored 14 goals in his first season at Espanyol after joining in 2005 and capped a fine campaign the following year with two goals in the 4-1 victory over Real Mallorca in the Spanish Cup Final.

In 2006-7, he helped the club get to the UEFACup Final only for Sevilla, who had current Spurs coach Juande Ramos in charge, to come out on top.

He finished last season as Espanyol's top scorer in the league with 13 goals, but made it clear he would be happy to move clubs this summer. Garcia (below) 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.

Meanwhile, left-back Gareth Bale is on course to be fully fit for the start of next season. Bale missed the final five months of the last campaign with a serious foot injury, but has felt no ill-effects in pre-season training.