Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini has confirmed Tottenham Hotspur have made a €35m bid for star duo Simon Kjaer and Edinson Cavani, though the London club later denied the claims.

Denmark centre-half Kjaer and Uruguay forward Cavani have both starred at the FIFA World Cup™, prompting the bid from Spurs who will play in the qualifying rounds of next season's UEFA Champions League. Harry Redknapp has had issues in defence with Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate both struggling with long-term injury problems, while Cavani would boost an attacking line-up which already features the likes of Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Spurs' bid appears to have been accepted by Palermo with Zamparini already earmarking the transfer fee for rebuilding. He told Sky Italia: "Tottenham have bid €35 million, an offer we cannot refuse, seeing as the two players have both said they want to leave. We will reinvest the money for these players. The midfield is my biggest concern, whereas in defence and attack we are fairly well covered."

Tottenham have bid €35 million, an offer we cannot refuse, seeing as the two players have both said they want to leave.
Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini

Palermo signed 21-year-old Kjaer from FC Midtjylland in 2008 and a string of impressive performances in Serie A have brought him to the attention of Europe's leading clubs. Cavani, 23, was equally unknown when he moved to the Sicilian club from Danubio in 2008.

Kjaer's representative Mikkel Beck has indicated the Denmark international would be open to a move, should anything "concrete" materialise. "The situation has not changed since the summer began," Beck told sport.co.uk. "He has a contract with Palermo for another three years, but he has been put in contact with so many big clubs in the last year.

"It is great that there is interest from these clubs, but I am afraid that nothing concrete has come from any of the interest as of yet. At the moment we stay put, and Simon is very patient. He knows what he has at Palermo, they are a top Italian team and are playing in the European Cup next year, so he knows what he has.

"But on the other hand he has admitted that if any concrete offers come out of the current interest then he would seriously consider leaving Palermo this summer."

However, the Premier League club insists those remarks are wide of the mark. "Palermo's claims are inaccurate. We have not bid for these players," said a spokesman for Tottenham.