Tottenham Transfer News: Pape Cheikh Diop Price Reportedly Set Amid Rumours

Celta Vigo have reportedly put a £9 million price tag on Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Pape Cheikh Diop.

Per Cadena SER (h/t TalkSport), Spurs and Vigo have reportedly held talks about a transfer during the weekend, with the proposed transfer fee the main sticking point. His contract contains a buy-out clause of £25 million, but he was always expected to be available for less.

The Daily Mail's Matt Barlow previously reported the 20-year-old was likely to move to a London-based club:

Lyon are also said to be interested, but Spurs appear to have the inside route to his signature. The club has yet to make a major splash on the transfer market, but after months of scouring Diop, that could change in a hurry.

Casual fans may not be familiar with the central midfielder, and given Spurs' lack of a big-name signing, some won't be too happy if Diop is among their main targets. Oddschanger couldn't help himself:

Diop is a Spanish youth international who was raised in Senegal until the age of 14. He quickly progressed through Celta's youth setup and made his debut in 2015, just two years after joining the Galicians.

Last season, he mainly made an impact off the bench for a Celta squad that made it all the way to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League, where they came very close to upsetting Premier League giants Manchester United. He likely would have seen more playing time had the team not progressed so deep into the competition.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

In La Liga, he flashed his considerable talent as a box-to-box midfielder, standing out for his remarkable combination of quick, light feet and defensive prowess. He already has a strong build for a player his age but still moves quickly and can dart out of trouble in the blink of an eye.

Here are some of his highlights:

Diop is far from a finished product―he only made five starts in La Liga last season and didn't even feature in Europe. But his tools are impressive, and his rapid development in Galicia suggests he could have a very high ceiling as a versatile, powerful midfielder.

A fee of £9 million seems reasonable for such a promising prospect, even if it might be one or two years before he's ready to make an impact for a club of Tottenham's stature.

Diop likely won't be the only signing the club makes this summer, but adding young talent is never a bad idea, and his transfer could pay huge dividends down the road.