Speaking to Sky Sports (via Football Daily), Portuguese journalist Filipe Dias has shared some news on Tottenham Hotspur’s summer transfer plans, saying ‘something is about to happen’ involving Sporting CP star Joao Palhinha.
The Lowdown: Spurs eye Palhinha…
The 26-year-old maestro has been linked to Spurs for a good portion of the summer and is currently touted as one of the targets to reinforce manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s midfield options.
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Daily Star reporter Paul Brown first broke news recently of unrest surrounding Tanguy Ndombele’s future as the club record-signing considers his options this summer.
This has lead to Palhinha being mentioned as well as the likes of Denis Zakaria and Corentin Tolisso, with Dias now backing Spurs’ interest in the former whilst dropping an update live on Sky.
The Latest: Dias backs Palhinha claims…
Speaking to Sky Sports (via Football Daily), Dias has backed that Tottenham have set their sights on the 6 foot 3 powerhouse as he drops a live TV update.
“The latest information we had here this week was that, apart from Wolverhampton, Tottenham is also interested in him,” the reporter explained.
“It makes sense because you have Nuno Espirito Santo and Bruno Lage, Portuguese managers managing Wolverhampton and Spurs, and they are pretty familiar with this player.
“Sporting Lisbon do need to sell. Sporting’s manager wants the player to stay, but Sporting is asking around €40million (£34million) for the player.
“He’s 26 years old, I think he would fit the Premier League perfectly, I think either club would be good for him, we are still waiting on an update and are following this day-by-day because I think something is about to happen at Sporting Lisbon.”
The Verdict: Good option?
Lauded as a ‘special player‘ by Sporting boss Ruben Amorim, Palhinha averaged a quite incredible 3.3 tackles per 90 in midfield over 28 Primeira Liga starts last season (WhoScored) – far more than any Tottenham player managed in England.
Valued at around £34m, he also represents decent value for money, but we believe he should be explored as an alternative if Spurs cannot land Caglirari midfielder Nahitan Nandez on a loan deal.
The latter man can cover a variety of positions across midfield as well as at right-wing back, solving an array of problems for Nuno as well as saving Spurs quite a bit of money given they are allegedly attempting a temporary deal.
In other news: Offer pending: Levy readying Spurs bid to sign ‘amazing’ player who Nuno personally wants, find out more here.
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