Tottenham do not expect Fernando Llorente to return to the club on a free transfer.
The veteran striker, 34, was released at the end of his £100,000-a-week contract on June 30 but Spurs did not announce his departure, after offering him a fresh one-year deal on reduced terms.
However, the club has not heard from the former World Cup winner or his representatives for several weeks and manager Mauricio Pochettino is now happy with his attacking options, particularly given 17-year-old Troy Parrott’s impressive performances in pre-season.
Spurs have paid Llorente a month’s salary in severance pay, while his No18 shirt has been taken by deadline-day loan signing Giovani Lo Celso.
Llorente has always been open to a return to Spain but a host of Italian clubs — including Lazio, Napoli, Roma and Fiorentina — are currently in a fight for his signature.
The World Cup winner scored just twice in the Premier League in two seasons following a £15million deadline-day move from Swansea in August 2017, but he played a crucial part in Spurs’s run to the Champions League Final.
After scoring at home to Borussia Dortmund in the last-16, he bagged the all-important third away goal in the epic quarter-final win over Manchester City and changed the game as a substitute in the unforgettable 3-2 semi-final win at Ajax.
In Pictures | Tottenham's summer transfer business
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