---
title: "Tottenham Hotspur: Jose Mourinho eyes return for Real Madrid titan Eder Militao after 2020 phone call"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/tottenham-hotspur-jose-mourinho-eyes-return-for-real-madrid-titan-eder-militao-after-2020-phone-call/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Emilio Galantini"
section: "Premier League"
published: "2021-01-09T18:10:04Z"
modified: "2021-01-09T18:10:04Z"
---

# Tottenham Hotspur: Jose Mourinho eyes return for Real Madrid titan Eder Militao after 2020 phone call

**According to Spanish outlet [AS](https://as.com/futbol/2021/01/08/primera/1610123386_792771.amp.html?id_externo_rsoc=CM_ES_TW&__twitter_impression=true), Jose Mourinho has personally shortlisted Real Madrid outcast Eder Militao as a potential January reinforcement – with the Tottenham boss still keen to add a star centre-half after falling short in the summer.**

Militao, who has been largely out-of-favour under Zinedine Zidane this campaign, with the [£104,000-per-week titan](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportekz.com/football/real-madrid-players-salaries/) reduced to very minimal playing time, is now being eyed by Spurs and Mourinho as they seek to reinforce the Lilywhites back four.

\[freshpress-poll id=”341434″\]

### Militao shortlisted in defender search for Spurs

Indeed, as claimed in this report, the Tottenham boss is eager to bolster his defensive options given his lack of depth – with the out of favour Davinson Sanchez and inexperienced Joe Rodon the only options if key starters like Toby Alderweireld suffer injuries.

Chief scout Steve Hitchen[flew out to Italy last summer](https://www.spurs-web.com/spurs-news/italian-journalist-offers-update-on-tottenhams-transfer-meeting-with-inter-milan/) in a bid to sign Milan Skriniar, but negotiations fell flat and Spurs had to settle on not bringing in a star-studded centre-half option.

Now, Mourinho is eyeing a potential return for Militao after shortlisting him among a list of candidates – coming after the Portuguese was eager to bring him to Spurs last season.

[El Desmarque](https://eldesmarque.com/madrid/real-madrid/noticias/188152-mourinho-pide-permiso-a-florentino-perez-para-negociar-con-un-jugador-del-real-madrid-ed) reported in 2020 that Mourinho personally phoned Madrid president Florentino Perez in an effort to sign Militao for the Lilywhites, but it eventually came to nothing.

### Transfer Tavern take

Described as ‘[excellent](https://www.google.com/amp/s/tothelaneandback.com/2020/03/18/former-real-madrid-star-backs-eder-militao-to-move-to-tottenham/amp/)‘ by Steve McManaman, despite only playing one Champions League game this season for the Galacticos, he averaged a head-turning [96% pass accuracy](https://www.whoscored.com/Players/337879/Show/Eder-Milit%C3%A3o) – numbers that would impress any coach looking for a ball-playing centre-half.

Whether or not Spurs act on Mourinho’s interest remains to be seen, but he would be a good alternative in an otherwise difficult January market.