Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Insider details real Antonio Conte thoughts on new Tottenham arrival, with disastrous transfer repeat to be avoided

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, August 2022

A journalist has revealed what Antonio Conte thinks about new Tottenham signing Pedro Porro, with the right-back hoping to make his debut for his new side this weekend.

Tottenham had several rounds of negotiations with Sporting Lisbon for Porro during the January transfer window. According to The Athletic, Tottenham chiefs were originally told by their Sporting counterparts they could sign him for £26.5million.

But after Sporting saw the kind of money Premier League teams were paying for players, they upped their price.

As a result, Spurs had to match Porro’s full €45million (£40m) release clause to reach an agreement with the Portuguese outfit.

The transfer was confirmed by Spurs late on deadline day. Porro has joined Conte’s squad on loan, with the obligation to buy for £40m at the end of the season. He will wear the number 23 shirt during his debut stint in England.

Porro could play in a Spurs shirt for the first time on Saturday. That is when they travel to face Leicester in the Premier League.

Transfer reporter Dean Jones has conducted an interview with GiveMeSport in which he has detailed what Conte thinks about the latest recruit.

Jones is expecting Porro to make a big impact for Spurs as Conte played a big role in deciding that the 23-year-old should be chased.

New Tottenham man will not get Djed Spence treatment

“They haven’t put all this effort into him for no reason,” the journalist declared. “I don’t think this is the same as Djed Spence when they put months of work into signing him and then he was never seen.

“That was more of a club signing, whereas this was somebody [Porro], I’m told it was very much a Conte signing and a man that the management team felt could transform their season, so I do expect to see him soon.”

It sounds like Porro will get plenty of opportunities under Conte. And should he do well, then he will likely become the first-choice right wing-back, ahead of Emerson Royal.

Spurs fans will be delighted if Porro becomes a reliable player in that position. After all, it has been a problem area in recent years.

Pedro Porro could end Spurs right-back woes

Both Matt Doherty and Emerson failed to make the position their own, with Emerson in particular being guilty of some awful performances.

Spence was signed from Middlesbrough in summer 2022, with the deal costing Spurs £20m. However, Conte has indicated that this capture was for the club and not him. Due to this, he has refused to play Spence on a regular basis.

Spurs completed an overhaul at right wing-back on deadline day. In addition to landing Porro, Doherty’s contract was terminated so he could join Atletico Madrid. Spence, meanwhile, went out on loan to Rennes to get more game time. That transfer does not include an option to buy.

Spurs have made some costly errors in the right wing-back position in the last few years. But it looks like those problems will finally end, with Porro having the full trust of his manager.

Despite the good relationship brewing between Porro and Conte, the latter is being tipped to move away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. And his next move could be a controversial one.