Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola makes interesting claim about Tottenham’s January signing
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed that his team had Pedro Porro on their ‘list’ before Tottenham Hotspur signed him this summer.
Porro left Manchester City permanently last summer as he joined Sporting CP. He was on the Cityzens’ book for three years but did not make a single appearance for them.
He spent most of his time on loan at Real Valladolid and Sporting. But since last summer, he has progressed a lot and registered three goals and 11 assists in 26 games across competitions this term.
Spurs sealed a late deal for the one-cap Spain international in the January transfer window to, at least on paper, end their right-back dilemma. 31-year-old Republic of Ireland international Matt Doherty’s allowed to join Atletico Madrid permanently while Djed Spence was loaned to Stade Rennais.
Porro was on Manchester City’s list
But it could have all been different for Spurs had City acted on their interest to sign the new Tottenham Hotspur full-back. Guardiola said at a pre-match press conference recently (h/t Evening Standard):
“[Porro] is perfect to play five at the back. Last season we suffered when we played against Sporting. He is a good signing for Spurs. No [we didn’t think about re-signing him], he was on the list but we didn’t think about the buy-back. He decided to go to Spurs.”
Manchester City let Joao Cancelo join Bayern Munich on loan so it’s not like they are well-stacked in the full-back areas. They saw Porro live in action in February when he started both games as a right-wing-back.
City beat Sporting 5-0 over two legs in last season’s UEFA Champions League. We also saw him in action with the Portuguese giants earlier this season. Guardiola’s words would fill Spurs fans with confidence.
More Tottenham Hotspur News:
- Tottenham Hotspur chief answers if Spurs will buy Arnaut Danjuma this summer
- Tottenham Hotspur dropped interest in Udinese star Gerard Deulofeu due to injury
- Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Matar Sarr played a role in Tottenham not signing Weston McKennie
We do play with a five-at-the-back system under Conte but it remains to be seen if the Spaniard will be trusted in the starting XI against Manchester City when we face them at N17 this weekend.
