Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with many central defenders since the summer transfer window. However, that's hardly a surprise.

They let Jan Vertonghen leave on a free transfer to Benfica, Juan Foyth was shipped to Villarreal on loan whilst Davinson Sanchez's future is by no means certain, according to The Athletic.

Interestingly, one of their mooted targets is almost a like-for-like of the then club-record £42m signing - Eder Militao.

Reports in Spain have emerged linking the Real Madrid man with a switch to north London this month. Mundo Deportivo claim that Jose Mourinho is keen to bolster his backline with the addition of Militao, who is heavily out-of-favour at the Bernabeu.

Indeed, the 23-year-old has been restricted 344 minutes in all competitions, his latest appearance was on Wednesday night as the La Liga giants crashed out of the Copa del Rey to third-tier CD Alcoyano in extra time.

That was only Militao's third start this campaign, so he may well be expendable to Zinedine Zidane.

It's easy to see why Mourinho would be so keen on him too, even despite the £27m-rated Brazilian failing to cement a regular spot in a team like Madrid.

Arch-rival superstar Lionel Messi dubbed Militao "a phenomenal talent and fierce competitor" - his time at Porto may show why one would think that.

He does not have the luxury of consistent game time right now, but his form in Portugal earned him that €50m (£45m) move to Spain.

At the end of the 2018/19 Liga NOS season, Militao graded as the best central defender in the league with a 7.63 rating on WhoScored, which was also the fourth-highest overall in a leaderboard trumped by Bruno Fernandes (7.83).

One of his best traits was his physical ability as he averaged 2.1 tackles per 90 minutes, meaning opposition attackers found it very tough to manoeuvre past him, especially as he also chipped in with 1.9 interceptions per 90 minutes, via WhoScored.

The six-time Brazil international was also prepared to bring the ball out of defence regularly and with a hit-rate of 65.5% of completed dribbles shows he was successful more often than not.

As mentioned earlier in the article, Militao has been likened to Sanchez by South American football expert Tim Vickery, who told talkSPORT:

"He’s not too dissimilar to Davinson Sanchez, Eder Militao. He’s a strapping lad, and he’s quick," before adding: "Jose likes him according to the Portuguese press so let’s see what happens."

If you're a Spurs fan, this probably doesn't provide much encouragement given how underwhelming the Colombian has been since his move from Ajax in 2017.

The 24-year-old is currently averaging a mediocre 6.48 WhoScored rating in the Premier League and has been snubbed 11 times since that devastating West Ham comeback in October.

That said, if Militao can come in and perform to the standards that Sanchez should be setting himself, then the Hotspur faithful will undoubtedly be delighted.

So hold fire on any angst over those comparisons and wait and see if Spurs can secure a deal for the 6 foot 1 powerhouse.

Mourinho will need bodies if he's to contend across all competitions and evidently if the Portuguese manager can get that Porto form back out of him, then he'd be a wise addition.

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