Tottenham Hotspur have opened negotiations to sign Spanish youth international Pape Cheikh Diop, according to Sky Sports.

The Celta de Vigo player is a robust box-to-box midfielder who has been scouted several times by Spurs and is primed to become Mauricio Pochettino’s first signing of the summer. Spurs are hoping that the deal would be concluded by next week.

Born in Dakar in Senegal, Diop moved to Spain as a 14-year-old back in 2011 and joined Celta de Vigo’s youth set up in 2013. The 20-year-old featured in 19 games for the Galician club last season but only five of them were starts in La Liga.

Being raised in Spain, Diop has represented the Spanish youth sides in the international stage. He has played ten times for the Spain U-19s and was part of the excellent squad that won the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in 2015.

Tottenham finished second in the Premier League last season. With Champions League football beckoning for the North London club, many predicted that this will be another summer where Pochettino and club chairman Daniel Levy would retain their star names.

But right-back Kyle Walker has since joined Manchester City and left-back Danny Rose has expressed his desire to leave the club. And with just over two weeks left in the transfer window, Tottenham remain the only club in the league not to have signed a single player this summer.