Real Madrid News
Tottenham stepped up talks to sign €45m right-back to avoid Real Madrid threat
According to journalist Bruno Andrade, Tottenham Hotspur ramped up their efforts to secure the signing of Sporting CP defender Pedro Porro in order to avoid the threat of competing with Real Madrid.
Fabrizio Romano reported last night that negotiations between Tottenham and Sporting for Porro were in advanced stages and the deal was close to being completed.
The 23-year-old right-back, who has a release clause worth €45 million, is now seemingly poised to join the Premier League in the ongoing transfer window.
And, Andrade is claiming that one of the major reasons that Spurs upped the ante in their pursuit of the right-back is that they wanted to avoid direct competition with Real Madrid for his signing in the summer.
As per the journalist, Tottenham were made aware that Real Madrid will make efforts to try and sign Porro in June should he still remain at Sporting at the time.
The Merengues have been linked with a move for the Spaniard for some time now. With Dani Carvajal’s injury problems resurfacing again, Carlo Ancelotti’s side could enter the market for a new right-back in the summer.
And Porro had been touted as one of the options on the radars of the reigning champions of Spain and Europe. In fact, some reports had even suggested that the 23-year-old would be open to wait until the summer to join Real Madrid.
Tottenham, who had been working on his signing this month, thus upped their efforts further and advanced negotiations with the Portuguese club as they wanted to avoid a transfer battle with Real Madrid in the summer.
As things stand, talks between Tottenham and Sporting are very advanced and the deal is said to be very close. So, Real Madrid look likely to miss out on Porro’s services and will likely have to look at other targets to strengthen at right-back in the summer.
Real Madrid’s adventure so far under new coach Jose Mourinho has been far from perfect and this fact shouldn’t be lost even after the team’s brilliant comeback win over AS Roma in midweek.
However, there are areas where Los Blancos have shown a clear improvement under Mourinho, when compared to previous bosses such as Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa.
One of those areas has been set plays, with Real Madrid appearing far more potent from set pieces this season.
A clear improvement from last season
As reported by Diario AS, the three goals in Rome, all from Arda Guler corners inside a seven-minute blitz, were the perfect advert for the work being done at Valdebebas.
Those strikes took Real Madrid’s set-piece tally to seven goals in just ten matches this season. Four of them have come in La Liga, one from a corner and three from free kicks, with the trio in Rome completing the haul.
It is a striking figure when set against last season’s return. Under Alonso and Arbeloa, Madrid managed 12 set-piece goals across the entire campaign, all in La Liga, split evenly between six from corners and six from free kicks.
On current trends, this side looks well placed to surpass that number comfortably.
The reason behind Real Madrid’s improvement
Attacking set pieces are led at Valdebebas by Pedro Machado, with the whole coaching staff involved and Mourinho himself giving the final green light on every routine.
Defending them, meanwhile, falls to Sami Khedira, though it is treated as a collective effort. Mourinho’s appreciation of that teamwork was clear when Bellingham headed in a Guler free kick against Espanyol, prompting the manager to leap up and embrace his assistants.
Machado, one of Mourinho’s most trusted lieutenants, has followed him from Fenerbahce to Benfica and now Madrid, part of a backroom team blending experience with young, ambitious talent.
On the pitch, Guler is the undisputed master when available, his left foot the key weapon, with Bernardo Silva, Trent Alexander-Arnold and even Diomande also trusted to initiate attacks.
Such meticulous strategy has helped Real Madrid turn into a potent side from set-pieces this season.
