Tottenham’s hopes of signing Leandro Damiao appear to have taken a hit as the Brazilian declared his desire to play for Real Madrid, according to reports from talkSPORT.

Spurs have been trailing the hit-man for some time and are believed to have had a £14m bid to bring him to the Premier League rejected two seasons ago.

Andre Villa-Boas was reportedly interested in securing his services during the summer, however his club Internacional were far from keen to lose another star player following Oscar’s departure to join to Chelsea.

Damiao claims he is not open to a move to Europe in the short-term, but stated his would make an exception for La Liga Champions Real Madrid:

"Now is not the moment to be thinking of playing in Europe. I just want to continue improving and scoring goals," he told UOL.

"However, every footballer dreams of playing at a club such as Real Madrid but I'm only 23 and there is plenty of time to take that step forward.

"I have a contract and I love it here and don't feel the need to move away right now.

“Even so, it's obvious that the day will come when I will leave Brazil to go and play in Europe."

The 6ft. 1” forward is hailed as one of the finest young talents in his homeland and has represented the national team on 14 occasions so far.