Tottenham Hotspur ace Lucas Moura will wait until his contract expires before returning to Sao Paulo with Brazilian journalist Jorge Nicola reporting that his wages at the Premier League outfit will prove problematic.
Shortly before Christmas, the idea of Lucas returning to where it all began as a fresh-faced whizzkid reared it’s head via the Brazilian press.
Lucas’ agent soon put an end to those rumours however.
“The possibility of Lucas returning (to Sao Paulo) now is very, very, very small,” Junior Pedroso explained. “He is an absolute starter at Tottenham.”
Six months on, at least one of those statements no longer applies. Since the January arrival of Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus – a loan deal that looks certain to become a permanent arrangement sooner rather than later – Lucas has started a grand total of three from a possible 15 Premier League games.
He didn’t even get off the bench during Saturday’s valiant 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
Will Lucas Moura stay at Tottenham Hotspur?
But, according to Nicola, a return to Brazil – and Sao Paulo – will have to wait. Unless, of course, Tottenham are willing to terminate the final two years of his contract. And unless Lucas is willing to take a substantial pay cut.
That, as you may have noticed, is a lot of ifs.
“Lucas currently earns around 2.2 million Brazilian reals per month (£90,000-a-week), which is completely incompatible with the reality of Sao Paulo,” says Nicola, having reached out to the Sao Paulo bosses and Lucas’ representatives.
“He has a contract with Tottenham until June 2024. There is no reason for him to give up that money at this point. The player’s idea is to return to the Estadio do Morumbi when his contract in England ends and he has made his money.
“The current situation is not so nice. In Tottenham’s last 12 games, he has only started once. In two of them, the player did not even get off the bench.”
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Lucas should still have a part of play going forward, especially with Steven Bergwijn expected to leave and European football returning to North London in 2022/23.
Some of his best performances in recent times have come in continental competition after all.
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