London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur will reportedly go head-to-head in the battle to sign Real Madrid's Mateo Kovacic.
The Spanish media outlet has claimed that the fierce Premier League rivals will duke it out for the 23-year-old's services in the summer transfer window.
However, the website also goes on to report that the duo are "less viable" options than three other interested parties from Serie A, namely AC Milan, Roma and Inter Milan .
Kovacic has been on Real Madrid's books for two seasons and has often failed to force his way into the starting lineup under Zinedine Zidane at the Bernabeu.
That lack of minutes on the pitch is apparently reason enough to link the midfielder with a move away from the Spanish capital and, to make their report a tad more ludicrous than first believed, Diario Gol also stipulates that Spurs would move for the Croatia international if Dele Alli departs for - ironically - Los Blancos in the close season.
Kovacic will no doubt be aware that his place in his national side's squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia will be under threat if he is not playing on a more consistent basis next term, and that alone could help him force a transfer to another club.
Zidane, however, is said to be an admirer of Kovacic's capabilities and will be eager to retain his services heading into the 2017/18 season even if he cannot afford to hand the ex-Dinamo Zagreb man more games from the off.
Kovacic may have a tad more luck at featuring more often on the field if he moved to either the Emirates or Tottenham's temporary home of Wembley, but the 34-times capped international would have to compete with a whole host of talented midfielders, such as Arsenal's Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey, and Spurs' Victor Wanyama and Moussa Dembele, for a spot in either club's first-choice XI.
Kovacic has featured 73 times for Real Madrid since his £27m move form Inter Milan in August 2015.
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