Internacional have confirmed Tottenham made a deadline day bid for Leandro Damiao.

The Guardian says Tottenham have a sporting partnership with Inter - they signed the midfielder Sandro from them in 2010 - and talks took place over Damião, with chairman Daniel Levy making an offer. Sources in Brazil put the bid at £13m, which was some way short of what Internacional would demand for a player whose official release clause is £42m and who has third-party ownership issues.

Tottenham could yet do business for Damião in the summer if they were to raise their offer to something in excess of their transfer record, which is the £16.6m that they paid to Dinamo Zagreb for Luka Modric in 2008.

"The offer was well below what we expected," said Internacional's director of football, Marcelo Medeiros. "However, it is possible that the striker could go in the next [transfer] window."