Tottenham close to signing Sporting Lisbon captain Adrien Silva

Tottenham are looking for an alternative to Everton's Ross Barkley and have identified Sporting Lisbon's captain Adrien Silva as the perfect player.

Tottenham have been comparatively inactive in the transfer market after seeing the Manchester clubs and especially Everton already completing some deals.

While experts have seen the lack of activity as a sign of strength and depth in the squad, many also pointed out the lack of grit in the team to churn out results consistently which essentially cost them the title last season.

The north London club look set to fill that gap by signing Sporting Lisbon's captain Adrien Silva. The Portuguese international has been at Sporting as a youth team player since 2002 and has made 232 appearances for the club, scoring 38 goals. He has also won 17 caps for his country.

Adrien Silva has always been a very effective midfielder that gets the job done both defensively and offensively. While not possessing the flair that Dele Alli or Son Heung-Min has, he is a very neat player who rarely gives away possession. He is a type of player that is needed to protect a lead or to see a game out.

Silva has a release clause of £39.5 million but Sporting will let him go for around £26 million. Spurs were initially planning to test the waters with a £17.5 million bid but will instead fork out the full asking price, according to the Daily Star. 

A deal for Adrien will essentially also put at end to the rumours surrounding a potential move for Everton's Ross Barkley.