Tottenham cannot afford the asking price for Sporting ace Joao Palhinha this summer according to a report from O Jogo (print edition August 20th, page 12).
Spurs boss Nuno Espirito Santo is clearly keen to bolster his central midfield ranks this summer.
And the addition of another defensive midfielder to compete with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg could be crucial to Tottenham’s hopes of achieving success this season.
The North London outfit have been heavily linked with a move to sign Palhinha over the past few weeks (Record). There is some bad news on the horizon for Spurs, however.
Tottenham can’t afford Palhinha
O Jogo claims that Daniel Levy will not stretch to Sporting’s £35 million valuation of the Portugal international.
That is because they quite simply can’t afford him.
Missing out on Palhinha will be a real shame for Tottenham.
The defensive midfielder is a very good player. In 32 league outings for Sporting last season, he averaged 3.3 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 1.2 clearances per game.
During those appearances, the Portuguese ace averaged 41 passes per match and recorded an impressive completion rate of 83.4%.
He is clearly a top class performer. £35 million doesn’t seem like bad value at all for a player with his ability.
Perhaps Tottenham chief Daniel Levy has decided that that is just too much money to be paying for a defensive midfielder, however. And that is a fair enough stance to take.
Read also: 25-year-old reportedly imminently set to join Tottenham.
Stats obtained via Who Scored.
