With Kyle Walker-Peters sold to Southampton and Serge Aurier expected to be sold this summer, Tottenham will need a new right-back this summer.
We’ve been linked with Norwich City’s Max Aarons, Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles, LOSC Lille’s Zeki Celik, OGC Nice’s Youcef Atal and Real Madrid’s Achraf Hakimi of Real Madrid, but The Sunday People say we’re also keen on Tomas Tavares.
Spurs are said to have sent scouts to watch the Benfica defender in action and may have to battle Atalanta, clubs in Spain and a number of French outfits to procure his signature.
Who is Tavares?
A 19-year-old right-back who has risen through the youth ranks to the Benfica first-team. Tavares has gone on to make 26 appearances in all competitions for As Águias, but he’s not been a regular in Liga NOS.
The Portuguese U21 international has only amassed 875 minutes of football in the top-flight, however, as André Almeida has been preferred under Jorge Jesus. Taveres was an unused substitute 22 times in all competitions.
As per WhoScored, the 19-year-old created five chances, whipped in 26 crosses, completed 80.8% of his 459 passes, made 10/18 successful dribbles, blocked 14 shots/passes/crosses, made 14 clearances, won eight free-kicks and averaged a tackle (25) or interception (14) every 22 minutes.
How much will he cost?
Transfermarkt say Tavares’ market value is £6.75m, but The Sunday People say his asking price is closer to £9m. All the growing interest in his signature could see his valuation rise this summer too, as Benfica are aware of how many clubs are keen.
The Portuguese outfit are happy to let Tavares go, but they aren’t in any rush to cash in as there are four more years remaining on his deal. We have dwindling finances this summer that could see Danny Rose, Aurier, Juan Foyth and Cameron Carter-Vickers sold to generate funds, but Tavares may not break the bank.
Summary
While showing signs of promise at Benfica, Tavares is young and inexperienced. It’s hard to see him coming in and making the right-back positon his own when he was struggling for playing time in Portugal. It’s unlikely that Jose Mourinho would replace Aurier with the 19-year-old.