Transfer news: Tottenham remain interested in Roberto Soldado confirms Andre Villas-Boas - despite £26m asking price

Tottenham will have to meet the £26m release clause if they want to land the striker

Roberto Soldado Valencia striker Soldado inspired Valencia to another third place finish in La Liga and to the semi-finals of the Europa League scoring 27 goals in all competitions but still failed to make the cut. Spain manager Vicente del Bosque opted to include Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo instead. “Negredo and Soldado are extraordinary players, but different. One is quicker but the other brings more to the team as a whole,” said Del Bosque. (Getty Images)

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed he remains interested in striker Roberto Soldado despite failing to reach an agreement with Valencia over a transfer fee.

Spurs’ technical director Franco Baldini had flown to Spain to try and agree a fee for the 28-year-old but Valencia refused to budge on their asking price, meaning Tottenham will have to lodge a £26m bid to trigger his release clause if they want to bring the forward to White Hart Lane.

The former Chelsea and Porto boss said: “There is interest in the player, no matter what happened in the last couple of days.

"He is a quality player, he has done well at Valencia for the last few seasons.

"He has had a good education from the Real Madrid school and he is a player which we interested in adding."

Soldado began his career at Real Madrid, but moved to Getafe in search of first team football after he failed to appear for his academy club.

Having impressed on the outskirts of Madrid with Getafe, he joined Valencia in 2010 to fill the void left by David Villa who had moved on to Barcelona, and Soldado has prospered since the switch, going on to score 24 league goals for Los Che last season.