Tottenham insider Paul O’Keefe has revealed that the Spurs hierarchy expected to win the race for Pedro Neto this summer and were left quite disappointed when the winger joined Chelsea.
Tottenham wanted Pedro Neto
Earlier this summer, various outlets had reported that Tottenham had identified Neto as one of their top targets for the wide birth (Telegraph).
However, it was the Blues who won the race for the Portuguese star, agreeing to a £54m deal with Wolves for the winger earlier this week.
It has been revealed by Express and Star reporter Liam Keen that Spurs failed with a part-exchange offer for Neto before Chelsea eventually swopped for the 24-year-old.
Tottenham signed Wilson Odobert instead
O’Keefe revealed that missing out on their top target, Neto, came as a big blow to the Lilywhites hierarchy, who were convinced they were going to land the former Wolves star.
Tottenham instead turned their attention to Burnley’s 19-year-old winger, Wilson Odobert, who impressed in the Premier League last season.
The transfer went almost completely under the radar until Spurs announced the signing yesterday, just days before they kick off their campaign away to Leicester City.
Spurs Web Opinion
Johan Lange clearly prefers to act in complete secrecy, which is why it is very difficult to tell who our targets are, how long we have been working on different deals, or how close we came to signing certain players.
Who knows, maybe the signing of Odobert instead of Neto will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.