Alejo Veliz wasn't rated highly by Tottenham youth teammates as multi-million sale goes through

Tottenham's sale of Alejo Veliz has led to a damning revelation about the young forward.

Spurs expert John Wenham shared what he has been told about the Argentine youngster.

The striker never got going in North London, making just eight appearances with one goal since joining in 2023.

Tottenham have now sold Veliz to Bahia for a fee believed to be in the region of £7.7million, in a deal that was confirmed earlier this week.

There was the potential for the Lilywhites to stop shopping in unfamiliar markets after the failure of that deal.

Wenham has shared what he was told by an academy player that meant the 22-year-old was up against it from the beginning.

What was said about Alejo Veliz after he signed for Tottenham?

Veliz's arrival came with a lot of hype, but he was not going to live up to after initial impressions.

Wenham was made aware by a player who had watched Veliz in his first session that he was not as good as Will Lankshear and Jamie Donley in a damning verdict.

Speaking exclusively to Tottenham News, he said: "Not really, because it was quite unusual for us to recruit from that market anyway.

"It was just a gamble that we spent, I think it was $15million, so about £13m.

"I remember his first session, I won't say who, but I was personally told by another academy player who was training with the first team at that time told me, asked how did this new guy look, and said that both Lankshear and Donley looked miles better, that was his words.

"I was slightly questioning why we'd gone to Argentina and brought in Alejo Veliz, he then had loans at Seville where he was handed the No. 10 shirt, and a loan at Espanyol where he was handed the No. 9 shirt, and then barely played, and when he did play, very few goals.

"He showed a bit of passion for Tottenham. I remember he had this game against Bournemouth where he had a really bad injury and then tried to carry on until he effectively collapsed on the floor.

"It never really worked out for him, but I think he's just one of those, you take those gambles on young players, we've had great success with Lucas Bergvall, with Pape Matar Sarr to some extent, Archie Gray, Destiny Udogie, Luka Vuskovic.

"So we've had a lot of success recruiting younger players, but unfortunately on that one it just didn't work."

Will Veliz succeed in Brazilian football?

Veliz was never able to turn it on in Europe, notching four goals across his loan spells with Espanyol and Sevilla.

However, he thrives in South American football, notching 30 goals in 103 appearances for Rosario Central in Argentine.

Therefore, he will likely have no issue adapting to the Brazilian game, but Spurs will still have no regrets over his departure.