Granada director Pep Boada believes Domingos Duarte might have left the La Liga outfit if the likes of Tottenham Hotspur had stumped up a bid in the region of £30 million, as he told Spanish publication Ideal.
With the dust settling on a frantic window, Tottenham’s transfer market activity can probably be graded with a B+, verging on an A.
In Bryan Gil, Cristian Romero, Pierluigi Gollini and Emerson Royal, Spurs appear to have reinforced a number of key positions while getting high-earning, underperforming players like Serge Aurier, Moussa Sissoko and Eric Lamela off the wage bill.
And, just in case you hadn’t heard, Harry Kane is sticking around for the time being too.
But while Emerson did arrive on deadline day, joining in a £25 million deal from cash-strapped Barcelona, Spurs failed to agree a deal for another up-and-coming La Liga defender.
Why did Tottenham fail to sign Domingos Duarte?
According to AS, the London giants submitted a £7 million offer for two-time Portugal international Domingos Duarte in August.
When you consider that Granada wanted closer to £30 million for a man who helped the club reach the Europa League quarter-finals last term, it should come as no surprise to learn that the Nazaries were never tempted to accept Tottenham’s lowball bid.
“Maybe if they offered £30 million, (chief executive) Patricia (Rodriguez) would have liked it. I wouldn’t!” Boada quipped when asked about Duarte, insisting that Granada did not receive a serious bid for one of La Liga’s most reliable centre-halves.
It is early days of course, but the signs are good under Nuno Espirito Santo.
A defence that shot itself in the foot more frequently than a partially-sighted Storm Trooper last season has looked uncharacteristically solid this time around, Eric Dier and a revitalised Davinson Sanchez keeping clean sheets in all three Premier League games thus far.
Romero, the £47 million Argentina international, has only played one minute of top-flight football thus far too.
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