Tottenham Hotspur still hopeful of signing Ross Barkley

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly maintaining their interest in Everton midfielder Ross Barkley whom they hope to sign before tonight's 11 pm deadline.

Barkley, 23, has just 10 months left on his present deal at Goodison Park, but his plans of an exit could be potentially scuppered by a hamstring injury sustained earlier this month.

The England international is due to be on the sidelines until December at least, but this has not completely diminished interest from his suitors.

According to The Mail, Spurs are planning a potential £30m deal for Barkley just 24 hours after Chelsea failed with an opening £25m bid for the attacker.

Everton have come down from their original asking price of £50m to around £35m, and they are unlikely to take anything less for a player, who could still have a future in Merseyside.

Ronald Koeman has previously admitted that Barkley could retain a spot in the Toffees' first-team but he is likely to be behind the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Davy Klaassen in the pecking order.