Rio de Janeiro, May 2 (IANS): Brazil's Internacional has conceded it is likely to lose star striker Leandro Damiao to English football club Tottenham Hotspur next season.
The English Premier League outfit has been pursuing Damiao for the past two years and failed with a 16 million-pound bid for the 23-year-old in the January transfer window, reports Xinhua.
"We have spoken with Tottenham and it's probable that he will play next season in England," Internacional president Giovanni Luigi told tuttomercatoweb Wednesday.
Napoli have also shown interest in the Brazil forward but Luigi is understood to be upset at the Italian club's attempts to bypass Internacional by dealing directly with Damiao's agent.
Tottenham's current centre-forward options are limited to Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe, and manager Andre Villas-Boas has reportedly made a new striker a summer priority.