Tottenham are close to completing the signing of Brazilian midfielder Willian from Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala in a deal worth about £30m. The 25-year-old has also attracted interest from Liverpool, but Spurs came up with the bigger offer. The attacking midfielder will force Spurs to break their club transfer record for the third time this summer. In July, they signed Brazil midfielder Paulinho for a fee of just under £17m from Corinthians and earlier this month they spent £26m on Valencia’s Spain striker Roberto Soldado.Willian joined Anzhi in January for a reported £30m after five-and-a-half seasons at Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk. But the attacking midfielder has become available as Anzhi attempt to cut costs after a change in strategy by their owner. This summer, Spurs have also signed 25-year-old French midfielder Etienne Capoue, 25, for £9m from Ligue 1 club Toulouse and Belgium international winger Nacer Chadli from Dutch club FC Twente for £7m. The signings come amid continuing rumours about Gareth Bale’s future at Spurs. The Wales forward, 24, has been ruled out of action for two weeks by a foot injury, but speculation continues that Real Madrid will make a formal £80m move.
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