Spurs transfer news: Tottenham ready to bid for Leicester hero Danny Drinkwater after contract talks slow

TOTTENHAM are poised to pounce for England star Danny Drinkwater after being alerted to the slow progress in contract talks at Leicester.

Spurs, and another major Premier League club, are keeping a close watch on Drinkwater's situation at the King Power Stadium.

They have been shocked that the champions have not already tied down the 26-year-old to a long term deal after his inspirational displays last season.

And SunSport understands they could launch a £20million bid to sign the player to see if he would be open to the idea of a move elsewhere.

Most of the Premier League clubs are keen admirers of Drinkwater and are sure to join the bidding to challenge a raid by Spurs.

But Leicester have only just opened negotiations over a new £80,000-a-week contract rather than rush in with an offer when the title trophy was lifted back in May.

The club believe they will have little trouble wrapping up the situation, but that was before some of the top clubs in the Premier League started to take an interest.

And now Claudio Ranieri's men will have to act quickly to avoid Drinkwater joining N'Golo Kante in leaving the midlands.

Until now the club had placed their focus on trying to keep Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy happy.

That meant Drinkwater and Kasper Schmiechel were left kicking their heels waiting to be rewarded for their work in helping the club to the title.

It has been a risky strategy and the club have miscalculated the level of interest from elsewhere in the pair with Everton keen on the Danish goalkeeper.

That delay, plus the initial terms offered not being satisfactory, have led to a situation where Drinkwater becomes so disappointed he could begin to consider his options to move on.

Talks are set to resume when club return from their pre-season trip to America - and the midfielder is relaxed about what the future holds.

Only last week, he said: "I am not going chasing the club. It is up to them to approach me. I would love to commit but I just want to play football.

“I still have two years left on my contract so it is not a be all and end all if I don’t sign a new one in the next few weeks.

“I’m still under contract so I can’t really say too much but I’m a Leicester City player at the minute. It’s up to them how they handle it.”