Morientes deal real insist Tottenham

THE Fernando Morientes transfer saga is expected to drag on into the weekend, with Tottenham desperate to set up a meeting with the £15million-rated Real Madrid striker.

The 26-year-old Spanish international is in New York for a charity match against Roma.

And he is not expected back in Madrid until tomorrow morning when he is likely to be briefed by his agent Gines Carvajal Seller on the progress of Real's talks with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

The White Hart Lane chief jetted out to meet Morientes' club bosses on Tuesday.

However, Morientes was quoted as saying: ''I have no wish to play for Tottenham, who have not even qualified for the UEFA Cup.''

But that view contradicted Glenn Hoddle's upbeat verdict. The Spurs boss said he understands Morientes wants to sign.

Reports yesterday also claim Spurs have had a £15m bid rejected as Real want £19m. So the confusion enveloping one of the most sensational transfer raids of the summer is not expected to clear until Morientes is back home at the weekend, when he will begin preparing for Thursday's friendly with Betis.

The situation surrounding another Spurs transfer target Chinese international trialist Qu Bo is clearer.

Hoddle hopes to tie up a year-long loan deal for the 21-year-old who has impressed with his pre-season form.

As well as the double transfer talks, Hoddle has a stack of injury worries.

The latest of these concerns German winger Christian Ziege. He suffered a twisted left ankle early in last night's 1-1 friendly draw with Celtic.

He is out of Sunday's final pre-season warm-up match against Lazio and could miss that start of the Premiership season.

Jamie Redknapp is expected to be fit after sustaining a slight ankle problem in training but Hoddle added he had a ''few other knocks'' from last night that might hamper his team selection against the Italians this week