Barcelona are sizing up a surprise move for a Tottenham star who Harry Kane won't wish to see go, but who might make Ange Postecoglou's life easier by leaving, per reports.
Postecoglou found great success at Celtic when deploying a 4-3-3 formation that also utilised inverted full-backs. According to Football London, the Australian is primed to bring that blueprint for success down to north London.
While a higher intensity style in both attack and defence will likely be greeted warmly by Spurs fans, it may also come at a cost for Pedro Porro.
The 23-year-old was signed just six months ago in the winter window. Porro arrived on an initial six-month loan, though the deal contained an obligation to buy worth ?45m. That obligation will be activated in the coming weeks.
Porro drew stinging criticism for his defensive prowess - or lack thereof - in his early outings for Spurs. However, the right wing-back did make an impact going forward and struck up a superb understanding with Harry Kane.
Indeed, after providing the assist for Kane's winner in the 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on May 6, Kane lauded Spurs' new wideman.
"Pedro is fantastic," Kane said (via The Boot Room). "He's got a great delivery and as he looked up I think he just saw me there at the back post with a bit of space.
"Perfect ball and I timed my header well just with the slip of the surface, it was nice to see it bounce in.
"But I think he showed great desire without the ball today. We know what he can do with the ball, but he showed great desire against a really tough winger (Wilfried Zaha)."
However, according to SpursWeb, Porro could become a casualty of Postecoglou's inverted full-back system, with the Portuguese better suited to overlapping down the right flank rather than receiving the ball in congested central areas.
The wicked delivery Kane loves so much would also be nullified if Porro were forced to play in-field.
That is a conundrum Postecoglou must wrestle with, though according to the Spanish press, Barcelona could provide the answer.
Via SpursWeb, it's claimed the Catalan giants are sizing up Porro who they hope can be their long-awaited answer at right-back.
Barcelona have struggled to nail down a regular starter in the position in recent times, with centre-back Jules Kounde forced into depositing out of position for much of the recent campaign.
Man City's Joao Cancelo is also in their sights, though so too is Porro, per the report. In fact, it's stated the Spurs man is actually the candidate that 'stands out' in Barcelona's eyes.
Whether Barca would push for a permanent move or a loan with a view to signing Porro outright further down the line isn't stated.
The club's well-documented financial strife may well dictate if a move for Porro is viable and if so, in what guise.
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