On Monday, just like every day after a league fixture, Portuguese newspapers publish the official list of scouts attending the country’s biggest games.
Porto faced Moreirense at the Estádio do Dragão on Sunday, and as always, many English clubs had their representatives there.
Clubs are normally mentioned in these reports when they are at the stadium, but something different happened for Tottenham Hotspur this time.
The club weren’t on the list of scouts for the game, and Record noted their absence after the two previous Porto matches were watched by club officials. Those previous visits were widely assumed to be to watch Pereira, and reported in Portugal as such.
Record say it’s almost like Tottenham ‘predicted’ Ricardo Pereira wouldn’t be available for the match. The right-back, who has been linked to Spurs in the past couple of months, had a fever, according to manager Sérgio Conceição.
Pereira has been starting for Porto since returning from his loan at Nice, and the Portuguese side won’t let him leave for less than his release clause, which is €25m.
Tottenham have already made an offer for Pereira, which stands at €15m or €12m depending on which Portuguese source one chooses to believe.
It’s understandable that Porto want the full €25m, but perhaps the rumours are making Ricardo Pereira feel a little off colour… with transfer fever.
Much of the link is circumstantial, but with 10 days of the transfer window left, there’s enough in it for Record to give a full wink-wink-nudge-nudge.
