Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a £30 million deal to sign Brighton & Hove Albion and Malian midfielder Yves Bissouma.
The 25-year-old is Spurs manager Antonio Conte’s third summer signing, after goalkeeper Fraser Forster and winger Ivan Perisic.
Bissouma, whose contract with the Seagulls expires in a year, has made 124 appearances for the club since joining from Lille in July 2018.
In January, the north London club expressed interest in signing him.
He is scheduled to have a medical with Tottenham later this week, and the deal is contingent on personal terms being agreed upon with the player.
Last season, the coveted central midfielder started 26 Premier League games for the Seagulls, scoring once.
He was instrumental in Graham Potter’s side finishing ninth in the Premier League, the highest finish in the club’s history.
Last September, Bissouma stated that it was not his time to leave Brighton, but that he wanted to play in the Champions League, which Spurs have qualified for next season.
Born in Ivory Coast, but raised in Mali, Bissouma started his career at the Majestic SC academy in 2009, where he played with Malian international Adama Traoré. In 2014, he joined AS Real Bamako.
On 7 July 2016, four months after having arrived at Lille OSC from AS Real Bamako, Bissouma signed his first professional contract with the club, with a duration of three years.
Born in the Ivory Coast and moving to Mali aged thirteen to pursue a professional football career, Bissouma participated at the 2016 African Nations Championship with Mali. In the semi-final against the Ivory Coast, he was substituted on in the 76th minute and scored the decisive goal for 1–0 in the 89th minute. However they went on to lose in the final against DR Congo.
Bissouma was named in Mali’s squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations to be played in January 2022. He made an appearance in the first match on 13 January, coming on as a 59th minute substitute replacing Adama Traoré in the 1–0 controversial victory over Tunisia, with the referee blowing for full time early on two occasions.
He played in all four of Mali’s matches as they were knocked out via penalties against Equatorial Guniea in the round of 16 on 26 January.