Atletico Madrid will demand that Tottenham Hotspur pay Yannick Carrasco's release clause, according to Marca journalist David G Medina. 

The lowdown

Journalist Jason Burt reports that Spurs have opened dialogue with Atletico in the hope of completing a deal for Carrasco prior to the transfer deadline on Thursday night.

Antonio Conte is apparently a long-term admirer of the Belgian, who has scored 81 times in his club career, and tried unsuccessfully to sign him in January.

While Burt claimed that Carrasco would be available for 'far less' than his release clause, the media in Spain are saying something quite different.

The latest

Marca writer Medina tweeted that Atletico will 'not negotiate for Carrasco' before the end of the transfer window, stating that either the €60m (£51.3m) release clause is paid or 'nothing' will happen.

However, he does say one can assume Tottenham will go ahead and pay the fee due to the finances available in the Premier League.

"Atleti does not negotiate for Carrasco. Either the 60 clause is paid or nothing. Another thing is that seeing the potential of the Premier it is assumable that they do so."

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The verdict

A £51.3m deal would take Spurs' spending for the summer past the £200m mark. They would duly move top of the Premier League spending table for the current transfer window, leapfrogging West Ham and Chelsea.

In fact, it would be the third-biggest signing in the club's history, ranking just behind their moves for Tanguy Ndombele (£54m) and Richarlison (£52.2m).

Spurs have just paid £45m to make Cristian Romero's loan permanent, and this would be an even further sizeable outlay.

There's a chance that we see a game of brinkmanship ahead of the Thursday night deadline, with Spurs no doubt aware that Atletico are under pressure to sell players in order to comply with La Liga salary cap rules.

Carrasco has been called a 'brilliant player' and a 'very dangerous' 'goal threat' by Kevin Campbell, but just how high can the Lilywhites go at the end of a busy summer?