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This article is part of Football FanCast's Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news...

Tottenham Hotspur have not given up hope of signing Saint-Etienne defender William Saliba, per L’Equipe.

What’s the word?

The report claims that Arsenal had submitted a bid for the 18-year-old and actually agreed terms on a long-term contract with the player.

However, Spurs are still said to be in the running, having scouted Saliba “for months”.

The Lilywhites are surely due a number of new signings this summer, having reached the Champions League final and achieving a top-four finish all without spending a penny in two consecutive transfer windows.

The defender is valued at between €25m (£22.3m) and €30m (£26.8m) and Daniel Levy is said to be interested in striking an agreement for such a price.

Roma are also reported to be monitoring developments, while the Gunners will surely hope the groundwork they have put in will pay off.

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Pochettino’s perfect defender

Spurs are reverting to their previous policy of bringing in the best possible young players.

Saliba is a teenager but he’s already made 19 appearances for the Ligue 1 club and has been capped at every France youth level between the Under-16s and Under-20s.

A talented young defender, he averages two tackles per game in Ligue 1, per WhoScored, along with 1.8 interceptions and 2.7 clearances.

He also has a pass completion rate of 85.6%, with 40.3 average passes every game.

This is exactly the type of defender manager Mauricio Pochettino loves, a player who can read the game and step out with excellent distribution, and the Argentine is of course a genius when it comes to developing young players too - just look at Dele Alli and Harry Kane.

Toby Alderweireld shows off this ball-playing defender play-style better than most, and Saliba could well be his natural successor.