Football Espana

Tottenham Hotspur scouts are likely to be a semi-regular occurrence at the Benito Villamarin in the coming months, due to the buy option they have on Johnny Cardoso. However their most recent trip to see Real Betis was not solely dedicated to the USMNT international.

Spurs have a €25m buy option on Cardoso, but Relevo explain that their scouting mission to see Betis’ 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano also involved watching Brazilian forward Vitor Roque. The 19-year-old is on loan from Barcelona, but has started to show signs of his talent at Betis, and has 7 goal contributions in 24 appearances this season.

Diego Kochen is making waves with the B team. He's seen as a future star for club and country. @bonagerman

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 24, 2024

Brazilian giants Palmeiras were linked with a €20m move for Roque this week, but Betis are reluctant to let him go. They have a €25m buy option themselves on Roque, and an option to extend his loan deal for a year. Los Verdiblancos need to make €20m in transfers before the end of June in order to balance their accounts though, and for the right money, they could no doubt be tempted.

Getafe have not had too many redeeming features this season, but the one strength has been their defence. Despite sitting 15th with just three wins, Getafe have only conceded 13 goals in 16 games.

At the heart of that defence is Omar Alderete. The Paraguayan defender, who recently played a key role in beating Argentina, has been a bastion at the back for Jose Bordalas. However he might not be around much longer.

Alderete has a €16m release clause according to Diario AS, and Tottenham Hotspur are interested in activating that clause. The 27-year-old is on the shortlist for Spurs, and manager Ange Postecoglou has seemingly requested his signing, having admired his strength and ability on the ball.

Getafe’s hardman has been linked with Atletico Madrid in recent months, and certainly few forwards envy the task of going up against him. This season Alderete has played 15 times for Getafe in La Liga missing just one game.

Barcelona look as if they will not move for Lille forward Jonathan David in the coming weeks, as the Canadian forward makes his mind up on his future. The 24-year-old can sign a precontract with other clubs from the first of January, and has thus far rejected any offers from Les Dogues.

David had voiced his desire to play for Barcelona, being a fan of the club growing up, but the Blaugrana have delayed any decision on a move for him, and by the time they take it, David may already have decided his future. Sport say that David will wait to see if Barcelona make a move for him, but not for long.

Barcelona have not won on German soil since the 1-2 against Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2016. @sergisoleMD

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 10, 2024

Amid plenty of interest from the Premier League, Inter, Juventus and Bayern Munich, the Catalan daily say he has a lucrative offer on the table from Tottenham Hotspur already. Both Barcelona Sporting Director Deco and manager Hansi Flick have their doubts about his ability to thrive without space to run into, which is the key reason they have not moved for one of the market opportunities of 2025.

Barcelona do tend to face for the most part packed defences sitting deeper in Spain, even if they have become more direct this season under Flick, hoping to hit many teams on the break. With Robert Lewandowski turning 37 next year, they are on the hunt for an alternative to him through the middle for next summer.

Getafe have one of the most solid defences in La Liga, but are still languishing in 17th place, narrowly out of the relegation zone. Los Azulones have struggled for goals this season, and manager Jose Bordalas has voiced his frustration at the lack of options in his squad on several occasions.

President Angel Torres seems reluctant to spend much in January, and as such they will seek cheaper options. Superdeporte say they are interested in Sergio Reguilon of Tottenham Hotspur. The ex-Sevilla and Real Madrid left-back is yet to play this season, and a loan move could be on the cards in January before his contract expires in the summer.

The same outlet also note that Getafe could move for former striker Enes Unal too. Since his €16.5m move to Bournemouth, Unal has struggled under Andoni Iraola. He has just 10 appearances in the Premier League this season, and only 172 minutes out of them. He could be allowed to leave on loan, and the Turkish forward was lethal for two seasons between 2021 and 2023.

Borja Mayoral’s ongoing injury issues have robbed Bordalas of his primary source of goals, with Bertug Yildirim and Alvaro Rodriguez struggling to make the grade so far. Mayoral is set to return to full fitness soon, but in what state of form it will be difficult to say, given he has been mostly sidelined since March. So far this season, Getafe have scored just 10 goals in 15 La Liga games.

Tottenham Hotspur right-back Pedro Porro has made no secret of his desire to join Real Madrid in recent months, affirming publicly and on multiple occasions just how exciting it would be to turn out for Los Blancos. However Real Madrid believe the deal is impossible.

Porro has been identified as the top alternative to Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is out of contract next summer, and the Spain right-back has been tracked for some time by Real Madrid. Despite the wishes of Real Madrid and Porro, Diario AS say the former believe a deal is impossible due to the cost of any deal.

Spurs are set to demand a minimum of €70m for Porro, which is out of reach for Real Madrid. In addition, with the arrival of Ruben Amorim at Manchester United, Los Blancos expect the Red Devils to make a move for Porro next summer in part due to their Sporting CP connection. With Sporting transfer man at Manchester City, and Kyle Walker potentially exiting next summer, they do not rule out a move from Pep Guardiola’s side either.

It looks as if Los Blancos will place all of their eggs in the Alexander-Arnold basket. The England international is not only the cheapest option to compete with Dani Carvajal, but has also been on their radar for some time. While Real Madrid are hoping to sign more Spanish players, Porro looks a little complicated.

During the summer, Real Betis negotiated the return of Giovani Lo Celso, who has since hit the ground running to great effect at Los Verdiblancos. As part of that arrangement, Tottenham Hotspur retained a “special clause” for Johnny Cardoso, which allowed the USMNT midfielder to be signed for a fee in the region of £21m (€25m).

Cardoso has made a strong start to life at Betis since arriving from Internacional in January, and during the summer, he was subjected to strong interest from AC Milan. In the end, he did not leave the Benito Villamarin, although the expectation is that he will do so before the start of the 2025-26 season.

As per Football Insider, Spurs have decided to activate the special clause that they have for Cardoso, with the only uncertainty being whether it will be done in January or next summer.

Perhaps the very first player to be given the odious comparison with Lionel Messi, Giovani dos Santos was the golden child of the Barcelona academy when he came through the system. At the age of just 31 though, he had already hung up his boots.

Dos Santos enjoyed a good career, playing at Tottenham Hotspur, Ipswich Town, Racing Santander, Mallorca, Villarreal, LA Galaxy and America in Mexico. He also earned 106 caps for El Tri, winning an Olympic gold medal in 2012 at the London Olympics too. However he has not rested on his laurels since retirement.

Fans of French club Brest snapped up all 2,600 tickets for their Champions League match against Barça at the Estadi Olímpic on November 26 in just one minute. @LeTelegramme

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) November 14, 2024

According to Claro Sports (via Marca), dos Santos is now involved in the petrochemical business, and is making his money as an investor in oil. He is an investor in Procura Mexico, a subsidiary of Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), and is earning an estimated salary of betwen $400-500k (€378-473k). He also has a luxury car business, which buys and sells esteemed models.

PEMEX are the state-owned Mexican petroleum company, who are reportedly the seventh-most polluting company in the world. As of 2023, they had assets valued at €129b, and are the second-largest oil company in Latin America.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Pedro Porro has made no secret of his desire to join Real Madrid in previous international breaks since the summer, and it’s a scene that has repeated itself. Los Blancos are looking for the long-term successor to Dani Carvajal, and Porro is one of the players they are watching.

Porro has been impressing for Spurs this season, and looks as if he will be the first choice right-back for La Roja with Carvajal out for the rest of the season, and Jesus Navas retiring after the summer. Porro spoke to El Desmarque upon joining up with the Spain squad, and did not hide his ambitions.

“I am focused on my work. I’m 25 years old, at 26 I don’t know where I could be, football is like that. I am settled in English football, I have a contract until 2028. My name and others come up [in relation to Real Madrid], but I am focused on my club and now with the national team. My friends send me rumours, it’s a compliment, but I’m focused. It is the result of a job well done that one of the best clubs in the world notices me.”

The right-back said that the three things he hated most about living in England were the rain, the food and the cold, while giving a 7/10 evaluation of how keen he was to return to La Liga.

For Porro, his hopes of joining Real Madrid look likely to be dashed by Trent Alexander-Arnold, as he is seemingly Los Blancos’ top target this summer. They will look sign him on a free or on a cut-price deal in January, which is another major obstacle for Porro. Tottenham are unlikely to let Porro go without making a healthy profit on the €45m they spent on him, bearing in mind he has a contract until 2028.

Rayo Vallecano are likely preparing to lose right-back Andrei Ratiu next summer, as interest grows in the Romanian international. Valencia are reported to be keeping tabs on him, and now, interest has arrived from the Premier League.

As reported by CaughtOffside, Tottenham Hotspur have registered their interest in Ratiu, as they make preparations for a possible approach from Real Madrid for Pedro Porro, who is on Los Blancos’ right-back shortlist.

Ratiu is reported to have a €25m release clause in this Rayo contract, and if this were activated, it would be a very nice amount to receive for the Vallecas-based club. However, it’s also noted that they would be open to negotiating, meaning that Spurs could sign him for less if they push for a deal.

Sevilla’s current recruitment model is based largely on signing talented youngsters with an upside, and bringing loan stars from bigger sides, as they try to bring down their wage bill. That has seen Sporting Director Victor Orta exercise his contacts book, and he may try to do so again in January.

As per MuchoDeporte (via ED), Sevilla are interested in signing Tottenham Hotspur youngster Archie Gray on loan in the January transfer window. The highly rated 18-year-old has seen just 303 minutes of action so far this season, and is yet to start a Premier League game. The three starts he has made have come in the Europa League and League Cup. Orta knows Gray well from when he was at Leeds United, and Gray was in the academy.

Our Archie 🤍 pic.twitter.com/mw5FiDVZMf

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 23, 2024

The Seville-based paper do note that Spurs’ social media account tweeted out ‘Our Archie’ shortly after that report. Postecoglou is no doubt trying to ease Gray into the team after a €41.25m move this summer. It would be a surprise if they were willing to loan out such an expensive investment, although if he remains just as short of game time, then perhaps that may force the situation.