Tottenham have been encouraged in their battle to sign Juventus midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.
Despite sources at Juventus claiming they had rejected a £21m offer from Aston Villa, club insiders insist they did not make any formal bid and subsequently ended their interest in the 24-year old on Thursday, says the Daily Mail.
Villa were reluctant to meet Juve's price as they took into account that Bentancur is not a natural holding midfielder, the position they are after, while a fee would also be inflated to pay a percentage to his former club Boca Juniors.
After being rebuffed 24 hours earlier in an attempt to take the Uruguay international on loan, Tottenham returned with a £25million offer, £3m more than Villa's last bid which was rejected.
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