Julien Laurens says Pedro Porro is a ‘very talented’ player and he is someone that will ‘do well’ at Antonio Cotne’s Tottenham Hotspur, as he told ESPN.
The European football expert has backed Spurs to secure the signature of the Sporting Lisbon right wing-back before Tuesday’s transfer deadline, but questioned what that means for others at the club.
If Porro secures his much-expected move to Spurs, then that will mean that Conte will have four bonafide right-sided fullbacks on his books.
Emerson Royal, who started his side’s 1-0 win at Fulham on Monday night, the most senior of them all, 31-year-old, Matt Doherty.
Then there is the summer capture of Djed Spence, who is yet to start a game this season and has played minutes from the bench, at best, here and there.
Surely this means something will give and, at the very least, one will leave before Tuesday’s cut-off point, which was touched upon by Laurens.
“It’s a good move,” said Laurens. “My dream is for Antonio Conte to play Doherty, Djed Spence, Emerson Royal and Pedro Porro all together,” he added in a sarcastic manner.
“It’s not going to happen Spurs fans. I am only joking. Pedro Porro is a right-wing-back to start with, not a right-back. And he’s great.
“His release clause is €45m (£39.5m) right now. Spurs are trying to lower that down and get the deal done for €35m (£30m), which is great. I think he is a very talented player. He will do well there.
“When are you moving the others out? What’s the point of signing Porro and then still having the other three in your squad?!”
CONTE BEING BACKED
A lot has been made about Conte’s future at the club and whether he will still be in the dugout beyond the summer.
Well, from a football perspective, can he argue too much at the backing? He was backed last January when Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur arrived.
Then, in the summer, Tottenham broke their club-record transfer and brought in Richarlison.
And now it seems as though that right-sided wing-back, who Conte wants, is going to be brought in, so surely he signs a new contract? If he doesn’t, then all of this is confusing because the next manager might not even like some of these players.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
