According to UOL, Tottenham will lose Lucas Moura in 2023 when his contract comes to an end.
What’s the story?
Well, the Brazil international has already entered the final 12 months of his contract with Spurs.
However, some may have expected Tottenham to agree fresh terms with Lucas, seeing as Antonio Conte described him as “one of the best” players in his squad.
The Italian has also called his No.27 a “wonderful” footballer in the past.
Despite Conte seeming to appreciate Lucas, it is the South American who has made this decision.
UOL believe the 30-year-old is now preparing to arrange a free transfer ahead of his contract expiring in July 2023, with a return to São Paulo on the cards.
Aston Villa and Newcastle made late approaches to sign Lucas ahead of Thursday’s 11pm deadline, so there would also appear to be the option of staying in the Premier League.
São Paulo have seen their chances of re-signing the Brazilian boosted after they received a large sum of money from Antony’s move to Manchester United, thanks to a sell-on clause.
So far this season, Lucas has played just 12 minutes of Premier League football.
Tottenham should have cashed in on Lucas
In our view, Tottenham should’ve looked to recoup a bit of the initial £23m they handed Paris Saint-Germain for Lucas back in 2018 ahead of Thursday’s 11pm deadline.
Surely, the north Londoners were aware of the Brazilian’s plans to leave on a free transfer, so we aren’t quite sure why Fabio Paratici didn’t entertain the late approaches from Aston Villa and Newcastle.
Fabrizio Romano believes Spurs “decided to keep” Lucas, but with Tottenham now set to lose him for nothing in 2023, we feel they should have pounced on the opportunity to make some money on their wantaway forward.
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