Pete Hanson

Fri 1 December 2023 11:10, UK

Some transfer rumours always seem to make more sense than others and there is one doing the rounds right now at Tottenham that certainly seems to fit.

The Times reported on Tuesday (28 November) that Ange Postecoglou is keen to bring in Portuguese winger Jota from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad, with a loan move being explored.

There are several reasons why this one fits.

Spurs have a couple of injuries to contend with in forward areas in the shape of Ivan Perisic and Manor Solomon, so another option up top wouldn’t go amiss.

Jota played the best football of his career under Ange Postecoglou during their time together at Celtic, and the boss would certainly know the talent he would be bringing to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

And things just simply haven’t worked out for the 24-year-old in Saudi Arabia, who moved from the Glasgow giants to the Pro League in July for a reported £25million deal (Sky Sports) on a three-year contract said to be worth £200,000 per week. He was quickly unfancied by Al-Ittihad and isn’t even registered to play in the league.

It is that latter figure where potentially things start to unravel a little bit here, though. The Sun reported that the vast majority of his wages in Saudi are tax-free, making his contract extra lucrative.

Al-Ittihad clearly seem open to a deal but any hopes of a freebie are fanciful and we all know how much Daniel Levy absolutely loves a bargain.

We have to do some hypothesizing here. But let’s say Al-Ittihad demand his full wages, which are reported to be £200,000 per week. That’s £800,000 per month. If he were to join until the end of the season that’s six months, which equates to £4.8million in wages alone.

Now, of course, it might be that Spurs wouldn’t be required to pay the full amount of his wages but it seems unlikely Al-Ittihad would finance too much of his package. And this is before any additional bonuses are taken into account or any potential loan fees and bonus-related payments.

It is not unfeasible to think that the final cost of this loan could reach or even surpass eight figures.

For a club of Spurs’ size that may seem relatively small fry, especially given the sale of Harry Kane in the summer. But it still represents a risk, especially for a player who has been frozen out by his club and has had limited game time, forking out money for a player who may not be at full speed and could be more susceptible to injury.

It is a tough one to weigh up from Tottenham’s point of view. It seems likely that if a deal can be sought then Postecoglou will push for it because he knows what Jota can bring to the table.

But with Levy’s hard-bargain reputation and propensity for keeping the purse strings tight, it might not be seen as the most financially savvy move. It is a £200,000-a-week conundrum that could scupper Postecoglou’s hopes.

In other Tottenham news, one BBC pundit says Giovani Lo Celso is not “the answer” for Spurs.