There is something about English clubs and the Brazilian’s that doesn’t seem to work out and the South Americans seem quite happy to move the goalposts at the last knockings. Gremio did it with Douglas Costa and Manchester United, while it now appears that Internacional are now doing the same with Tottenham Hotspur.

Unfortunately for the likes of Messrs Levy and Gill, the acquisition of players is never smooth in South America, given that most are tied up with third party ownership that needs to be resolved before any move can pass with the Premier League. Deals generally take an eternity to complete and it appears that Sandro’s switch to North London is set to be delayed.

According to the Brazilian media the talk that the Sandro deal was close to conclusion and that the player was delighted with this ‘dream move’ was all a figment of the British media’s imagination. Fleet Street as we know isn’t shy of throwing a few white lies in so to sell a story; however you do sense that on this occasion, especially with Redknapp confirming that talks are taking place with Levy, that Internacional are actually the ones who are moving the goalposts at the last knockings and using the January deadline to try and get more money out of Tottenham.

Internacional’s vice-president Fernando Carvalho has come out claiming that no sale will take place until the summer at the very earliest, due to problems involving Tottenham’s proposed link-up with the Brazilian side:

“Sandro is not moving in this transfer window,

“The partnership with Tottenham has not been finalised, there are a number of details which we did not sign up to.

“Sandro's exit could only have happened if this was in place.

“He will now play in the Libertadores for Inter, it may come in August that he will move to Europe - but that could be true of any of our players.” Radio Gaucho

I find that extremely hard to believe the case and it all sounds familiar to the struggles that United faced with Gremio in the summer. Costa was set to move to Old Trafford until suddenly his price tag was risen from the original £8m to nearer the £15m mark and while Gremio turned down United’s request to take him on loan with a view to a permanent deal, given they had upped the price, therefore the deal collapsed. I personally wouldn’t be surprised if Internacional are playing a similar card and trying to take advantage of Tottenham’s clear desire to sign the young Brazilian ahead of the January deadline; however if Carvalho thinks that someone like Dan Levy is going to fall for that and bow to their demands, then he is in for a short sharp shock.

Written By Matt Wright