Tottenham Hotspur were reportedly keen on signing Pedro Neto from Wolverhampton Wanderers at the start of the season.
According to Tottenham insider Paul O Keefe, Tottenham were keen on signing the 24-year-old Portuguese international winger after missing out on Eberechi Eze. However, they could not get the deal done because they were not prepared to pay cash upfront. Tottenham were looking to trade players instead.
Neto ended up joining London rivals Chelsea and he has done quite well for them this season.
The 24-year-old winger has proven his quality in the Premier League over the years, and there is no doubt that he would have been an exciting addition. Tottenham could have used his technical ability, flair and ingenuity in the final third. His ability to take on defenders and beat them, create goalscoring opportunities against the run of play, would have been very useful for the North London club.
Tottenham need some unpredictability in their attack and they have been linked with the number of attacking players in recent weeks. It will be interesting to see if they decide to strengthen that area of their squad when the transfer window reopens in January.
However, the decision to walk away from the deal for Neto because of the refusal to pay cash could prove to be a mistake in the long term. The 24-year-old has attributes to develop into a top-class player and he is only going to improve with coaching and experience.
Spurs need to sign players of his calibre if they want to win major trophies. they have put together a quality squad, but they need that extra bit of quality in the final third in order to match up to the Premier League elite.
It will be interesting to see if they can bring in the necessary additions in the coming months.
