Tottenham Loses Out to Dortmund in Race to Sign Hoffenheim Ace Jeremy Toljan
Borussia Dortmund are set to pip Tottenham Hotspur to the signing of talented Hoffenheim defender Jeremy Toljan for a fee thought to be in the region of £4.5m.
Sport Bild has reported that the 23-year-old will "imminently" pen a contract with the Bundesliga giants after they fended off interest from Spurs for his signature for the cut price fee.
Toljan was also thought to be on the radar of Serie A heavyweights Juventus, but the versatile defender-cum midfielder has decided to continue plying his trade in Germany and is on the cusp of becoming Dortmund's newest summer recruit.
Toljan was an unused substitute for Julian Nagelsmann's side in Hoffenheim's 2-1 Champions League first leg qualifying defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday as rumours of his departure from the Rhein-Neckar Arena gathered pace.
Tottenham, who are yet to make a single new signing in the current transfer window, were weighing up whether to bolster their defensive ranks by bringing Toljan to north London but now appear to have lost out in the race for him.
Spurs were apparently quoted as much as £15m for Hoffenheim's star defender at the beginning of August but, with Toljan in the final year of his contract, his eventual fee is paltry in comparison to that original asking price.
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As long as he passes a medical, Toljan will link up with Peter Bosz's club ahead of their Bundesliga 2017/18 opener against Wolfsburg on Saturday.
The Stuttgart-born footballer came through the youth ranks of Die Kraichgauer and has accrued 60 first-team appearances since his first-team debut in a 2-2 draw with Mainz in October 2013.
Toljan has already featured once for Hoffenheim this term - the 1-0 DfB Pokal Cup first round victory over minnows Rot-Weib Erfurt on 12th August - but that is expected to be his final appearance for last season's fourth-placed German top flight side.
A full-back by trade, Toljan is capable of playing anywhere across the defensive line and as a wide midfielder on either flank, and he has been capped 17 times by the German U21 international team.
