Tottenham Hotspur have one of the best right-backs in the world in Pedro Porro, and the Spaniard is finally starting to get his flowers after a great run of performances for his club. But, where did his career lead him before Spurs, and why is he not playing for his national team more often?
Ever since Tottenham sold Kyle Walker to Manchester City back in 2017, they have been looking for a suitable replacement in the right-back position. Kieran Trippier did a good job, Serge Aurier, was inconsistent, and Emerson Royal did not work out during his time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, the signing of Pedro Porro in the January transfer window of last year has proven to be an incredible bit of business for Spurs, and they no longer need to worry about that particular area of the pitch given he is a Tottenham first-team regular.
Ange Postecoglou clearly has a player he loves and can trust there now, but we need to know more about Pedro Porro. So, here’s an explainer of his career to date, his struggles at getting a Spain call-up, and details on his personal life and transfer market value.
Pedro Porro’s Spurs career in a nutshell
Tottenham chased Pedro Porro throughout all of the January transfer window in 2023, and finally got their man on deadline day on an initial loan deal, before making the move permanent in the summer.
The Lilywhites paid an initial £5m to loan the Spaniard, before paying just under £40m for the final transfer (GOAL).
He had a tricky start to his Spurs career, finding it hard to adapt to the pace of the game in the Premier League and getting caught out defensively on a number of occasions. Porro attracted hefty criticism from former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood, but he hit back claiming he would make sure Sherwood regretted his words (Guardian). We would assume Sherwood does indeed regret those comments now.
Since the arrival of Postecoglou, Porro has been transformed. Playing in the inverted full-back role, with a smile on his face, the 25-year-old has become one of Tottenham’s main sources of creativity; whether it be slick passing, killer balls into the box, or long-range goals.
He continues to be an attacking presence, while also offering far more awareness and discipline in defensive areas, and is one of the most effective right-backs in the English league.
How much is Pedro Porro worth?
Spurs paid pretty much the right price for Pedro Porro, with his current market value being estimated at £37.5m as of May 2024.
That’s according to data from Transfermarkt, which, to be fair, is a little on the low side most of the time. That value doesn’t necessarily take into account the actual price a club would put on a player’s head, and we think Spurs would demand a fair bit more if they were to ever think about selling Porro.
His current contract runs through until June 2028, and he is thought to be paid £4.42m a year or £85,000 per week, according to Spotrac. That figure puts him towards the upper-middle region of the Spurs payroll, just outside the top five earners at the club (Heung-min Son, James Maddison, Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison).
What clubs has Pedro Porro played for before?
Pedro Porro began his career in Spain with Rayo Vallecano, Peralada, and Girona, before joining Manchester City for a brief period. He then moved on to Sporting Lisbon in Portugal before signing for Spurs.
He was part of the youth set up at both Vallecano and Girona and had a short stay with Peralada. Porro then moved back to Girona, and it is there that he found himself catching the attention of Manchester City who, of course, have strong links to Girona as part of the City Group.
Porro never actually made an appearance for City, didn’t train with the first-team, and admitted he never even spoke to his manager Pep Guardiola there (Guardian). A loan move to Real Valladolid was followed by a temporary stint with Sporting, before that move was made permanent in July 2022.
After a highly successful 18 months with the Portuguese outfit, Porro was courted by Spurs, and even played against them in the Champions League. A few months later, he became a Tottenham player, and the rest is history.
Pedro Porro’s trophies and awards
Porro won three trophies with Sporting Lisbon: The Portuguese league title, and two Portuguese League Cups.
The club did the domestic double in the 2020/21 season when Porro was on loan there, with the Spanish star helping Lisbon lift the Liga Portugal title and the Taca da Liga. Sporting claimed the League Cup again in the following season.
On a personal level, Porro was crowned defender of the year in Portugal in both the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons.
Perdo Porro height, weight, age, and family
Pedro Porro is a small but stocky full-back, coming in at 1.73m tall and weighing 69kg, but he has great upper body strength for his size.
He was born in Don Benito, Spain, on September 13, 1999. Fun fact: his birthday is one day before Dominic Solanke‘s.
Porro was previously involved in an alleged love triangle with actress Magui Corceiro, and fellow footballer, Joao Felix. Porro and Corceiro were apparently spotted together in a nightclub, and Porro was also seen speaking to her after a game in Portugal.
Everyone involved denied any allegations of an affair, and the whole thing has blown over since.
Pedro Porro on Instagram and Twitter/X
Pedro Porro has over 500,000 followers on Instagram, and is very active on X, where he has over 100,000 followers.
Porro left out in the cold by Spain
Porro may be one of the best right-backs in the world, but he only has three Spain caps to his name, and continues to be frozen out of the national team by the current manager, Luis de la Fuente.
He made his international debut in a World Cup qualifier against Georgia back in March 2021, coming on as a substitute for 13 minutes.
Porro had to wait two years for his next cap, playing 45 minutes in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Scotland. His last appearance for Spain came in a friendly against Colombia in March of this year, but he was then left out of the friendlies before Euro 2024 and the tournament itself.
He was also not given a call-up for the recent Nations League double-header against Serbia and Switzerland. It remains to be seen whether he can keep up his good form and displace the likes of Dani Carvajal and Jesus Navas.
With those two players well into their thirties, you would think Porro could be the next in line to be Spain’s starting right-back, but there is clearly something not quite working for de la Fuente when it comes to the Spurs man.