Spartak tried to sign Pav

The Russian side says Spurs put a £17.6million price tag on the 27-year-old striker.

“We offered £9m for his immediate transfer,” said Karpin.

“Or they could get £11.5m through a loan deal – we would pay £1m right away and the rest after a year’s time.

“But Tottenham rejected our proposals. We were told that the price for Pavlyuchenko was £17.6m.

“For us it would be absurd to pay that.”