According to A Bola (h/t Sport Witness), Tottenham have spoken to Benfica about signing Pizzi this summer, with Jose Mourinho desperate to strengthen our attack ahead of the new season. Spending more than €20m on an ageing winger may seem like a business move Daniel Levy wouldn’t agree with, but there is method behind the madness.
Pizzi is too good to ignore
The 30-year-old, who will turn 31 in October, has made a total of 281 appearances in all competitions since joining Benfica from Atletico Madrid in 2013, scoring 76 goals with 86 assists. He’s coming off the back of his best two seasons at Benfica, scoring 31 goals and making 33 assists from his last 70 Liga NOS games.
In 2019/20, Pizzi had a hand in 49 goals (18 league goals, 5 cup goals, 3 Champions League goals, 2 Europa League goals, 2 Supercup goals) from 51 outings across the board, so it’s easy to see why we’re showing interest. And with Lucas Moura (4), Steve Bergwijn (3) and Erik Lamela (2) having only managed 50% of Pizzi’s tally of league goals this season, he’d be a stark improvement on most of our current options.
Is he really available for €20m?
A Bola say so, but I’m not sure. Benfica paid £12.6m to sign Pizzi and have paid him €27k-a-week/€1.4m-a-year (£24.4k-per-week/£1.27m-a-year) in wages since 2013 – approximately £21.5m in total. It remains to be seen why Benfica would cash in after Pizzi enjoyed his best season at the Estadio Da Luz, however.
The Portuguese international signed a four-year deal last summer, so Benfica aren’t under any obligation to cash in. Their most expensive departures are Joao Felix (£63m) and Luke Jovic (£54m), so Pizzi should be going for a lot more money than what is being quoted.
Summary
Pizzi is a talented player who would greatly improve our squad, but he might be more expensive than €20m. And if we’re having to sell Danny Rose, Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth and Cameron Carter-Vickers to generate funds for new arrivals, the Benfica winger might be out of reach.
People may expect a rebuild and emphasis on younger talent this summer, but Jose Mourinho wasn’t hired for a long-term project – he hasn’t spent more than three years at any club. Jose’s objective is to get us back in the Champions League and have us in contention of winning silverware by signing accordingly.