Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly dropped out of the running for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Morten Hjulmand.
Hjulmand is only in his first season at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, following a summer move from Lecce, but he already looks set to move on at the end of the campaign.
The Dane moved for €18m (£15.3m) from the Italian club prior to the start of the season, earning the Gialloblu a healthy profit, two-and-a-half years after moving from Admira in Austria.
As is so often the case with players at Sporting though, Hjulmand is set to move on for a huge fee following a fine debut season in midfield with the current Portuguese league leaders.
The 24-year-old has made 37 appearances across all competitions so far, missing just one league fixture since his arrival from Serie A.
While Spurs had reportedly been in the running for the Denmark international, journalist Gianluca Di Marzio claims that they are no longer pursuing a move for the player.
The journalist appears confident that in-demand Sporting manager Ruben Amorim may take Hjulmand with him to wherever his next club may be.
With Xavi set to leave Barcelona at the end of the season, Amorim is one of the names linked with that job, as well as the upcoming vacant position at Liverpool.
Speaking to Tipsbladet, in Hjulmand's native Denmark, Di Marzio revealed: "Hjulmand can follow Amorim wherever he will go, so we will have to wait to see where Hjulmand will go.
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"Amorim likes Hjulmand a lot, so wherever he goes, Hjulmand could very likely join him. Barcelona is watching him, and Tottenham was linked to him previously, but Tottenham are not interested in Hjulmand."
Arsenal have also been linked with the player, and one interesting development that has transpired recently regarding Hjulmand is that he is a Gunners supporter, and has a tattoo showcasing that on his arm, something which would be unlikely to go down well within the Spurs fanbase.
Speaking to Portuguese outlet Record, Hjulmand revealed his love for Arsenal in a recent interview, stating: "When I started watching football, Arsenal had a fantastic team and Patrick Vieira was the captain and played in midfield.
"He [Vieira] was and is a great inspiration for me. My father had supported Arsenal for many years and we started watching the games when we were younger."
Spurs were one of the most active clubs in the Premier League during the winter window, one in which was extremely quiet given the fear of breaking Profitability and Sustainability rules.
The league's most expensive deal of the month was Radu Dragusin's from Genoa to Spurs for around £25m, while the club also brought Timo Werner in from RB Leipzig.
Reports have stated that, while Spurs are looking at midfield reinforcements, a wide attacker is high on their list of priorities for the summer.
Spurs are back in league action this weekend when they travel to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon in a potentially pivotal encounter regarding their top four ambitions.
Andrew Delaney
