Club president confirms Tottenham swoop for ‘extraordinary’ star, with deal teed up by exit
Real Betis president Angel Haro has announced that Tottenham Hotspur have reached an agreement to sign Johnny Cardoso in the future, with the 22-year-old also hailed for his ‘extraordinary’ displays.
Tottenham and Betis were involved in two deals during the recently completed summer transfer window. Giovani Lo Celso left Tottenham on a permanent basis to re-join Betis, for whom he previously registered 16 goals and six assists in 45 outings.
Tottenham originally paid £27.2million to sign the attacking midfielder from Betis, but they had to take a financial hit when letting him go.
Late on transfer deadline day, Spurs confirmed that Lo Celso had headed back to the Spanish club, with the move understood to be worth £10m.
Spurs and Betis have a good relationship and this allowed Ange Postecoglou’s side to get first refusal on a rising La Liga star.
Spurs have the priority to sign 22-year-old Betis midfielder Cardoso. The USA international only joined Betis in January but has already established himself as an important player in their side.
Betis chief Haro has now spoken about both the Lo Celso and Cardoso transfers in an interview with Mundo Deportivo. He said: “Johnny is a player that interests not only Tottenham, but many other teams, he has a great projection.
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“In this case, within the Gio operation, they asked us for an option to buy for a value that for us was important and interesting and we gave them that option.”
Betis sporting director Manu Fajardo added: “Johnny’s performance is extraordinary. He’s going to bring a lot of joy to Beticismo. Tottenham has a purchase option in amounts that will satisfy Betis if they occur.”
European football expert Andy Brassell also gave his verdict on Cardoso over the weekend.
“The interesting thing is this [Lo Celso’s move] might help Tottenham negotiate an option, it seems, for Johnny Cardoso,” he said.
“Quite an interesting backstory, so he was born in the US to Brazilian parents but he moved back to Brazil when he was three or four months old. To all intents and purposes, he is a Brazilian player, he’s come through the system there before going over to Betis.
Very popular, very energetic, you can imagine Cardoso working really well in the Premier League because he loves a tackle, he loves to get stuck in, so you can imagine him protecting that Tottenham defence going forward.”
Should Spurs activate their option to buy Cardoso, then the ex-Internacional star will compete with the likes of Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr, Archie Gray and Rodrigo Bentancur for a starting spot in midfield.
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Spurs enjoyed a busy summer transfer window.
Ange Postecoglou brought in five senior players, including £65 million man Dominic Solanke. There were also transfers for Leeds United academy starlet Archie Gray and talented Swedish playmaker Lucas Bergvall.
The start of the season hasn’t quite gone to plan for the Lilywhites though. Even though they thrashed Sean Dyche’s Everton 4-0, an opening day 1-1 draw against Leicester and a 2-1 defeat against Newcastle last weekend have dampened the mood.
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And while Postecoglou is under no threat of losing his job early into the season, the Aussie will need to turn things around, and according to recent reports, could use next year’s transfer window to reinforce Spurs’ squad even further.
According to HITC, the Londoners have been tracking Lille midfielder and former Manchester United academy player Angel Gomes.
The 24-year-old, who has enjoyed an excellent three years in France, has recently earned his first senior England call-up.
Speaking recently about the Lille midfielder, interim England boss Lee Carsley said: “Angel is probably different to what we would have seen in the past (which) would have been a central midfielder that is more robust.
“Angel is very technical, controls the game with his skill and technique. Very determined, excellent attitude. Technically and tactically excellent, I think he’s a player that people are going to really be excited to see.”
Admired by Spurs and expected to leave Lille when his contract expires at the end of the season, the Lilywhites are eyeing a free transfer for one of Europe’s most under appreciated playmakers.
During his time in the Lille side, London-born Gomes has directly contributed to 26 goals in 118 games in all competitions.
