By Greg Stobart
Tottenhamremain interested in signingPorto midfielderJoao Moutinho in January but are unlikely to offer the 30 million fee agreed between the clubs on the final day of the summer transfer window.
Spurs are understood to be angry with Porto's conduct after the Portuguese champions reneged on 27.5m deal on the final day of August and then submitted contractual documents that contained irregularities.
The Londoners failed in their attempts to sign Moutinho, with the players personal terms providing an obstacle before Porto raised the asking price to 30m in the final hour of the window.
Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas is a huge admirer of Moutinho and wants chairman Daniel Levy to make a renewed bid for the 25-year-old in January as he considers the playmaker a perfect replacement for Luka Modric, who joined Real Madrid this summer in a 41m deal.
Tottenham sources say the club will not match the 30 m fee agreed in the final hour of the summer and believe a deal for Moutinho will be even more difficult in January after Porto sold Hulk to Zenit St Petersburg in a transfer worth 40m.
"On a point of principle, there is very little chance that Spurs will offer 24m [30m] for Moutinho again," a Spurs source told Goal.com. "There are plenty of good players out there and we are always looking for value in the market."
While Villas-Boas still considers Moutinho his top summer target, the club will assess in the coming months where they need to improve in the New Year.
Despite their failure to land Moutinho, the Londoners signed Mousa Dembele, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Clint Dempsey over the summer.
Meanwhile, Spurs will move into their new 50m training base in Enfield this week as the players return from international duty.
The club hope the state-of-the-art training centre will give the first-team a boost after a disappointing start to the Premier League in which they have secured just two points from their first three fixtures.
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