Tottenham battling to save Alen Halilovic bid as Manchester United enter race

TOTTENHAM are busily trying to save their bid for Croatian wonderkid Alen Halilovic.

Spurs are thought to have agreed a fee for Alen Halilovic but are struggling to come to personal terms

The north London outfit had a bid accepted for the 17-year-old, with newspaper Sportske Novosti claiming the L12m deal was blocked by Halilovic's father Sead, who asked for 'time-out' to think it over.

Dinamo Zegreb boss Zdravko Mamic flew in to Dubrovnik for talks with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy over bringing Halilovic to the Premier League earlier in August.

Boss Andre Villas-Boas is keen on the young and wants the club to go back and see if they can convince Sead that his son will get enough development time at Tottenham.

Alen Halilovic in action for Croatia

“Alen Halilovic's father asked for time out to decide a deal with Tottenham”

But according to new reports, Manchester United are now keeping tabs on the ever-changing situation and could launch a surprise bid and hijack their Premier League rivals efforts.

Spanish champs Real Madrid have also been linked with the young playmaker, who's contract expires on June 2014, but are thought to be ready to wait to land him on a free.

Tottenham reportedly had an earlier bid rejected for Halilovic, while Manchester City were also thought to be interested until interest cooled.