Tottenham’s newest signing Pedro Porro got himself a nice goal against Manchester United last night as Spurs snatched a 2-2 draw.
Porro had looked well off the pace in the opening 45 minutes but recovered well in the second half to score a fine goal and get Tottenham back into the game.
The £40m January signing – like so many at Spurs – has had an up-and-down few months as he adapts to the rigors of English football. However, his second-half showing last night displayed enough to suggest he’ll be a good signing for Tottenham down the line.
Interestingly though, Porro has revealed that he was playing with an injury during the game. Speaking to Tottenham’s official media channels, the wing-back confirmed he’d had some treatment.
“I don’t know to be honest. I was with the physio who was seeing to a knock I had. I don’t know exactly what he said but I imagine that after seeing how we came back for the second he will have said that we need to change our attitude. He didn’t need to say anything to get us up for this match,” Porro said.
Porro will be hoping to be fully fit for Tottenham this weekend when they face Liverpool in a huge game at Anfield.
TBR’s View: Porro starting to look good for Tottenham
He seems to do it in small doses but there is definitely something for Spurs fans to like about Pedro Porro.
He looks excellent in the final third and if he can bring on his defensive game a bit over the summer, then he has the tools to be one of the best in the league.
Hopefully, his injury isn’t a bad one and he can continue to build himself up. Tottenham could do with Porro at his best for the run-in and if he can get a few more goals like last night, then that’s a bonus.
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Harry Kane could leave Tottenham on a free transfer
The club’s record goalscorer has one year left on his contract as pressure builds on Daniel Levy over whether Spurs should sell this summer
Harry Kane is open to seeing out his Tottenham deal as one of his options with interest in the England captain set to intensify this summer.
Kane has a season left on his current Spurs deal and running down into his final year will pile pressure on chairman Daniel Levy to decide whether to accept bids this summer. The 29-year-old will be able to speak to clubs about a pre-contract in January if he wants to move on a free transfer in the summer of 2024.
With one month left of the current campaign, clubs usually want the future of their important players with expiring contracts to be sorted but there has been no agreement over an extension.
As reported by Telegraph Sport this week, there are increasing doubts at Spurs over Kane signing a new deal. Kane is believed to be looking at all options, which will include running down his final 12 months at the club where he has played for 10 years and scored 274 goals.
Manchester United fans sang Kane’s name on Thursday during the 2-2 draw at Spurs, chanting “We’ll see you in June” during the first half. United have an interest in Kane as they look to bring in a striker this summer, although they are aware it would not be easy to strike a deal with Levy. They have started due diligence on what it would take to sign Kane this summer, acting early to give them time to go elsewhere if negotiations get dragged out to the August 31 transfer deadline.
Kane revealed he has held an “honest conversation” with Levy over how to revive the club’s season while also confirming he heard the United fans singing his name on Thursday night.
“I think it was important [for Levy] to understand where the players’ heads were at that moment,” said Kane. “It was an honest conversation about where everyone is at and what we need to try to do to give us the best possible chance to finish the season with something.
“We’re still fighting for fourth place but if it’s not fourth, we’ll try to finish fifth or sixth – as high up as we can.
“In this league, it’s so competitive, you can easily end up eighth or ninth if you’re not careful. That’s what it was – to give us the best chance and I’m glad we reacted like that.
“I heard what they were saying [the United fans] but I’m just focused on this team and trying to finish strongly”
A notoriously tough negotiator, Levy would be expected to maximize the fee for the player having resisted selling him to Manchester City two years ago when Kane made it clear he wanted to leave during an interview with Gary Neville. At that point, Kane had three years left on his deal and there was no threat of losing him for nothing.
United want to head into next season with a new striker – ideally, before their pre-season tour in the USA starts – and would want to avoid a drawn-out transfer saga, with Kane one of a clutch of strikers they will consider. Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have monitored Kane’s situation but are aware he has the Premier League goalscoring record within his reach.
While Kane turns 30 in the summer, he would still be one of football’s highest-profile Bosman free transfers should he see out his contract. Paul Pogba, once the Premier League’s most expensive player, moved on a free back to Juventus last summer and other famous moves include Steve McManaman leaving Liverpool for Real Madrid after agreeing a pre-contract.
The risk for players is an injury in the final stage of their contract, but with no fee paid club-to-club, the player moving can maximize his earnings through a lucrative signing-on fee. Kane’s last contract deal was in 2018 and he has since won the Golden Boot at the World Cup but has not extended his contract during that time.
Kane and his Spurs team-mates are waiting for Levy to appoint the club’s next permanent manager, which would influence the future of players. There is an added twist of Mauricio Pochettino heading to Chelsea, which would spark speculation over the Tottenham manager working again with Kane but the two rivals rarely do business with each other.
