Mauricio Pochettino does have a tough task at hand as he looks for possible replacements for Kyle Walker. The Englishman has been in the news as he seems destined to join Manchester City and a couple of Portuguese outlets report that we are in for FC Porto’s Ricardo Pereira.
O Jogo and Sabado report that we are tracking the move of the Portuguese right-back and the 23-year-old does seem like a perfect replacement for the current Spurs right-back.
This isn’t the first time we have been linked with a move for Pereira and the Nice (on loan from Porto) defender actually seems to be one of those players that can star in almost any position. Across last season he was used on either side of the defence and also played a few games as a winger and a right sided midfielder.
This could be one reason why Poch is interested in the player thanks to his ability to play in a number of positions.
Pereira could be ideal for our system where we play with three at the back and two wing-backs. The 23-year-old would be available for a fee of €25 million and that does seem like a great deal considering some of the amounts being linked with Walker going to City.
O Jogo also claims that the 23-year-old’s parent club Porto want a lot more and that is something we will have to keep an eye on in the coming weeks. We do have Keiran Tripper, who was excellent during the latter part of last season.
The former Burnley man was preferred in the final few games of the season ahead of Walker but we still need cover for that spot and even for our left-back slot due to the injuries that Danny Rose had to deal with last time around.
Pereira could also be wanted by Porto and they could actually get his valuation up should they decide to keep him for half a season or so. It will be interesting to see just how much we are willing to bid, should we lose Walker to another club.
Only time will tell if Pereira will be able to do a stellar job like Walker but given his attacking propensity, he wouldn’t be a bad signing for us.
