Tottenham Hotspur ‘face competition’ from Brentford in their pursuit of Championship star

Brentford are said to have joined Tottenham Hotspur in the race to sign Sunderland’s Dennis Cirkin. The defender left Spurs for Wearside only last summer.

Cirkin was a regular in Tottenham’s youth set-up before making a shock move to Sunderland in 2021 and has impressed as he helped the Black Cats earn promotion to the Championship last season. The left-back returned from injury this weekend and scored the winner for Sunderland as they came from behind to beat Wigan Athletic.

Cirkin’s form has left Tottenham considering re-signing their former youngster, according to reports. It has been claimed that the London club inserted a £6 million buy-back clause in his contract when he joined Sunderland, meaning the Championship side wouldn’t have much say in one of their star players leaving.

It is unclear whether Spurs would look to use Cirkin in the first-team after already bringing in the likes of Djed Spence and Ivan Perisic in the summer, while they could also look to sell him on for profit.

While it appears to really be up to Tottenham whether they snap him up or not, The Sun ave claimed that Brentford will rival them for the left-back - viewing him as a long-term replacement for Rico Henry. The 25-year-old has been a regular for the Bees since winning promotion to the Premier League.

However, Sunderland are unlikely to want to sell Cirkin after his brilliant start to the campaign, so Spurs’ buy-back clause may be the only way they are going to part ways with him.