Benfica’s Ruben Dias has been touted as Jose Mourinho’s first-choice defensive target for Tottenham and that rumour has been reaffirmed by the latest report from Football London.
I don’t mind Alasdair Gold, but he is a hole in his back short of being a puppet for Spurs and wouldn’t be going out on a limb to link players to the club unless there was smoke to the fire.
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According to Gold, Mourinho wants to go after Dias to bolster his options at centre-back where he is likely to lose Jan Vertonghen and Juan Foyth.
He reports that the 22-year-old has an £80million release clause but Spurs are hoping to pay closer to their £40m valuation, using Mourinho’s connections to Jorge Mendes, who represents Dias, to knock the price down.
There is clearly a decent working relationship between Spurs and Benfica too as we were able to agree upon a favourable deal for Gedson Fernandes in January, taking him on an 18-month loan before committing to a transfer.
Daniel Levy might have to use similar tactics, or rely on Mourinho’s pal, to bring Dias in because £80m is so far out of our range.