Jose Mourinho has ruled out a Tottenham Hotspur move for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes had been touted as a potential replacement for Christian Eriksen whose contract expires in the summer.
Sky Sports reports that Spurs held talks with Fernandes in the last transfer window to prepare for Eriksen’s departure.
Mourinho was expected to follow up this interest in January but it seems that Fernandes signing a new deal at Sporting has priced us out.
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With his new contract, the Portuguese international’s release clause has jumped from £65m to £85m, according to Sky Sports.
“I would definitely say no because Bruno is a player of a level and value that is not for us”
Mourinho is quoted by Sky Sports as saying.
‘We are not a club that is going to make big transfers in the market, nor is it going towards players who are already developed or at a certain level of expectation, also economically. We are a different club at this level.”
Fernandes would have been an ideal successor to Eriksen, having scored 59 goals and assisted 47 more in 128 matches for Sporting.
His fresh asking price of £85m would not have been baulked at by Mourinho’s previous clubs, but would scare off Daniel Levy.
This is a new business model that Mourinho must come to terms with. For now, albeit only two weeks in, he seems at peace with it.