Journalist Graeme Bailey has told 90 Min that Tottenham Hotspur wants to wrap up a deal for Pedro Porro while they remain keen on AS Roma’s Nicolo Zaniolo.
Antonio Conte will be keen to bolster his squad before next week’s deadline as Tottenham is yet to address key issues within the side.
Spurs are closing in on Villarreal attacker Arnaut Danjuma, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that the club is ready to sign the paperwork to complete the deal.
The Dutchman looked set to join Everton but Spurs are close to hijacking the move after the player had even completed his medical with the Merseyside club.
Of course, Tottenham has been heavily linked with a move for Porro throughout the transfer window and they are looking to complete a deal to sign the Spaniard. But they are still keen to bring in Zaniolo as the Italian playmaker will be allowed to leave Rome this month.
Tottenham wants Porro and Zaniolo
Speaking to 90 Min, Bailey provided an update on Tottenham’s pursuit of Porro and insisted they want Zaniolo as well as the Sporting Lisbon star.
“They do want both players, Zaniolo and Porro. Zaniolo is likely to be a loan with an obligation of some sort, but yeah he’s available. They’re keen on doing that,” he said.
“Porro’s a player they’ve liked all window. I’m getting sick of reading every Ruben Amorim [press conference], I’m sure he is as well. Every press conference he has to come out and say, ‘I’m keeping him unless you play the release clause, etc’.
“However, as we’ve said before, there are people within Sporting’s hierarchy who want to take this deal. At the moment, it’s about €37m plus a player, we don’t know who that is but I think basically they’ve got a pick of a few out of Tottenham’s reserves.
“But a point that was raised to me by a Portuguese source this morning was that the Sporting hierarchy is looking at this all now, if Porro’s progress continues and he’s only going to get better and better, Manchester City has a buy-back [clause] of just €20m.
“That is the worry. If he continues his progress at the pace he is now, that €45m might not be worth the paper it’s written on if City brings him back for €20m. Not necessarily to use him or, given the [Joao] Cancelo situation [that he could leave], you wouldn’t rule out Porro maybe going back. But that’s the worry. It’s a really interesting situation for Sporting.
“I think with that in mind, I think Tottenham are fairly confident they can get him as well.”
It remains unclear whether Tottenham’s interest in the ‘incredible’ Zaniolo will be affected by their move for Danjuma.
The £35 million playmaker looks set to leave Roma this month after he was booed by his own supporters in recent weeks.
Zaniolo has mainly operated as a center-forward this season but the 23-year-old is naturally an attacking midfielder, while he can also play on either wing.
Danjuma is mainly a left-sided forward who can also play through the middle, just like Richarlison.
The spurs are in desperate need of some extra creativity on the side but it would be a surprise if they continued their pursuit of Zaniolo after signing Danjuma.
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