Report: Benfica defender considered a “priority” signing by Tottenham
Benfica center-half Morato has long been connected to Tottenham Hotspur, and the most recent claim indicates the North London team is willing to pay a premium to acquire the “priority” player.
Tottenham badly needed to strengthen their defense this year after poor performances in the previous campaign, and Micky van de Ven’s signing helped to greatly contribute to that effort.
However, the Dutchman’s stellar defensive tandem with Cristian Romero was ended when he suffered a hamstring injury during the Spurs team’s loss to Chelsea at the beginning of the previous month.
It has since been widely speculated that Ange Postecoglou will want to acquire another new centre-back in the January transfer window to improve his backline for the second half of the season.
Tottenham must spend a lot of money to sign Morato.
Morato, a Benfica defender, is one option the Lilywhites are investigating, according to the Daily Mail. However, the signing will not be easy, since his present team is keen to maintain the Brazilian (record as given by Sport Witness).
The newest update comes from Portuguese publication O Jogo (via Sport Witness), who claim Tottenham have “intensified their observations” of Morato and have made the Benfica man a “priority” in the transfer market in light of van de Ven’s injury.
The issue is that Benfica won’t part with their player and won’t make it “easy” for Spurs to acquire him. According to speculation, the Portuguese team may take use of Morato’s €100 million (£86 million) release clause to force the North London team to “open their purse strings.”
Spurs Online Views
I think Morato would be a great addition to our team under Postecoglou and that he has a nice look. But we shouldn’t overpay for the player, and we have to be cautious about a team like Benfica refusing to give up.
