The Athletic's Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Charlie Eccleshare has revealed a change of stance in the club's bid to sign a new striker before the transfer deadline.

Football London's Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold said in a Q&A with fans on Tuesday that chairman Daniel Levy's priority before the window slams shut was to bring in a new striker, but now Ecclestone says that the addition of Steven Bergwijn on Wednesday means a centre-forward is now seen as a bonus rather than a necessity.

The Athletic journalist had reported on Wednesday that there was 'a real chance' of a deal being agreed between the north London outfit and AC Milan to sign Krzysztof Piatek, described by Gold as "the one Tottenham want", but just a couple of hours later things had changed. Hertha Berlin are the new frontrunners as they were willing to pay the €30m (£25.4m) fee that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy clearly wasn't willing to.

It was a real sign of how quickly things can change during a transfer window, and there could be more twists and turns to come for Levy and Jose Mourinho before 11pm on Friday.

In other Spurs news, one journalist has claimed that Chelsea will allow Giroud to join Tottenham before the deadline if a deal can be agreed...