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Villarreal boss Marcelino Garcia Toral believes he will succeed in convincing defender Mateo Musacchio to turn down a move to Tottenham.
Spurs hoped to buy the Argentina international for £17million but the deal first hit a snag when his former side River Plate, who have a 30 per cent sell-on clause written into his contract, wanted him sold for a higher fee.
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Villarreal then responded to Tottenham’s offer to treble his wages to £60,000 a week by proposing an improved deal close to that figure.
The 23-year-old is set to make a final decision by the weekend but Toral said: “I believe that he will stay.”
Mauricio Pochettino has been keen to bolster his defensive options this summer, and has already signed left back Ben Davies and versatile England under-21 international Eric Dier.
Dier, who arrived from Sporting Lisbon for £4million, scored the winning goal on his debut in Tottenham's 1-0 triumph away to West Ham on the opening day of the season.
