Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a potential blow in their bid to bring Pedro Porro to north London in the January transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to Fabrizio Romano, with the Italian transfer insider revealing in a recent column for CaughtOffside that, despite Fabio Paratici being heavily linked with a move for the Sporting Lisbon right-back in recent weeks, Manchester City could throw a spanner in the works, as Pep Guardiola’s side possess a €20m (£17.5m) buy-back clause for the 23-year-old.
Regarding Tottenham’s interest in the Spain international, Romano said: “Links are normal as Tottenham have sent their scouts many times to follow Porro, he’s a player who Fabio Paratici knows very well [for] a long time.
“At the moment there are still no direct talks, so not an easy one – also because Manchester City have a €20m buy-back clause and so they can control the situation.”
Paratici must act
Considering just how impressive Porro has been in Portugal in recent seasons, coupled with right-back having been something of a problem position for Antonio Conte ever since his arrival in north London in November 2021, the argument that Paratici simply must move for the Sporting starlet this winter – regardless of City’s clause – is an easy one to make.
Indeed, over his 23 Liga Portugal appearances last time out, the £21.5m-rated talent was exceptional in an attacking capacity, scoring four goals, registering four assists and creating 11 big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.6 shots, making 2.0 key passes and completing 1.4 dribbles per game.
The £10k-per-week full-back also impressed in defensive metrics last time out, making an average of 1.8 tackles, 1.1 interceptions, one clearance and winning 5.3 duels – at a success rate of 53% – per fixture.
These returns saw the 23-year-old who Chris Miller dubbed “impressive” average a simply sensational Sofascore match rating of 7.28, not only ranking him as Rúben Amorim’s second-best performer in the league but also as the 12th-best player in the top-flight of Portuguese as a whole.
Porro has once again caught the eye over his 10 Liga Portugal fixtures in the current campaign, having registered four assists and created four big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 2.2 key passes, 1.4 interceptions and completing 1.1 dribbles per match.
These metrics have seen the one-cap international average an extremely impressive Sofascore match rating of 7.11, ranking him as Sporting’s fifth-best player in the division so far this season.
As such, with the defender reported to have a release clause of €45m (£39m) written into his contract at the Estádio José Alvalade, considering just how well-suited Porro looks to be for Conte’s tactical set-up in north London, it would appear highly advisable for Paratici to activate this clause as soon as possible, giving City little chance to launch a move of their own this winter.