Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Pedro Porro to the Premier League next summer.
What's the talk?
That's according to a report by Potugesuse publication Record (via Sport Witness), who claim that - following the Sporting Lisbon right-back's impressive performances against Spurs in the Champions League this season, coupled with Antonio Conte's 'detailed observations' of the 23-year-old - the Italian manager is eager to bring the defender to north London at the end of the campaign.
However, the Premier League side are not alone in their interest in the Spain international, with the likes of Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid also said to be keeping a close eye on the situation of the full-back - whom Sporting believe could fetch a fee close to his €45m (£39m) release clause.
Porro is "different class"
Considering just how impressive Porro has been for Sporting since his £7m move from Manchester City back in the summer of 2020, coupled with how much Spurs and Conte have struggled at right-back in recent years, it is not difficult to see why the 53-year-old would be keen on a deal to bring the Spaniard to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next summer.
Indeed, over his 89 appearances for The Leões, the £21.5m-rated talent has been a constant source of creativity from the right of the Sporting backline, providing his teammates with 16 assists, as well as bagging a further nine goals of his own.
The £10k-per-week defender particularly impressed over his 23 Liga Portugal fixtures last season, scoring four goals, registering four assists and creating 11 big chances for his side, in addition to taking an average of 1.6 shots, making 2.0 key passes and completing 1.4 dribbles - at a success rate of 53% - per game.
The 23-year-old also caught the eye in metrics more typical of his position last time out, making an average of 1.8 tackles, 1.1 interceptions, one clearance and winning 5.3 duels - at a success rate of 53% - per match.
These returns saw the player who Jermaine Jenas dubbed "different class" average a simply sensational Sofascore match rating of 7.28, not only ranking him as Rúben Amorim's second-best performer in the league but also as the 12th-best player in the top-flight of Portuguese football as a whole in 2021/22.
Furthermore, the one-cap international also stood out in Sporting's 1-1 draw with Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier this season, making one key pass, taking two shots at goal, completing two dribbles and finding his man with three of his six attempted crosses, in addition to making two interceptions, one clearance and winning four of his eight duels.
These metrics saw the Spaniard who Zach Lowry labelled a "special talent" earn an extremely impressive Sofascore match rating of 7.1, with the right-back causing problems for both Ivan Perisic and Ben Davies throughout the duration of the 90 minutes.
And, with 90min reporting that Conte would be willing to part with either Matt Doherty or Emerson Royal in the January transfer window - with both players having largely disappointed since their respective £15m and £26m moves to the club - the argument that Tottenham require an upgrade in the position is an easy one to make.
As such, with Porro clearly being an extremely attack-minded full-back - something that would appear to make him a perfect fit for Conte's right wing-back role - as well as the 23-year-old, having proven he is more than capable of doing a job against Tottenham, it is indeed easy to see why the Italian is keen to bring the Spaniard to north London next summer.