Tottenham Hotspur lost Harry Kane to Bayern Munich over the summer but responded well by signing James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Manor Solomon to score and create opportunities while Alejo Véliz is expected to tuck away the chances, but Rudy Galetti says they’re not finished in the transfer market.
Spurs are reportedly interested in Pepê Aquino, with Galetti saying they are desperate to get a deal done before the window shuts. He told Give Me Sport: “Tottenham are pushing hard to change the position of Porto who are not open to negotiating (less) than his €75m (£64m) the release clause.”
Pepe began his professional career at Gremio, scoring 32 goals with 20 assists from 145 games before Porto came knocking in 2021. The Brazilian U23 international has made 101 appearances in all competitions for the Primeira Liga outfit, scoring 11 goals with 16 assists.
Pepe had a hand in 11 goals from 34 league games last season, catching the eye of Tottenham, but he might be too expensive to sign. Porto paid around €15m (£13m) for the 26-year-old but are requesting £64m two years later. Tottenham have spent £165m on new signings this summer and haven’t spent more than £63m on one player (Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon in 2019), so Pepe would break their transfer record.
Spurs are trying to bring the asking price down, but Porto aren’t budging. Pepe has four years remaining on his deal at the Estádio do Dragão, so Porto hold all the cards in negotiations. They’re unlikely to welcome a sale of their key player without time to replace him either, so Tottenham might be barking up the wrong tree.
Pepe is a prolific left-winger who scores and creates goals an equal amount, but Ange Postecoglou has options out wide with Kulusevski, Solomon, Heung-min Son, Ivan Perisic and potentially Bryan Gil when he recovers from injury.
As things stand, Tottenham won’t pay £64m for Pepe and Porto won’t lower their demands, so a deal doesn’t look likely to get over the line before Friday’s deadline.
