Tottenham appear set to finally end their transfer saga over Sporting Lisbon defender Pedro Porro by completing the move before transfer deadline day, with the Spaniard set to become the Lilywhites’ second addition this winter following the arrival of Arnaut Danjuma on loan.
A rampaging wing-back, Porro has shone in the Portuguese league since his move from Manchester City, initially on loan and then made permanent last summer, and he is expected to set Antonio Conte’s side back around 45m euros should he arrive in the coming days.
But why is he so coveted at Spurs, and what will he bring to Conte’s side?
To begin with, it is important to understand what Conte wants in a wingback, and he explained that himself over the summer.
“The wing-back is really important if you play with three at the back”, Conte told the media. “They’re important because it’s no good if they are too defensive because in this position you need to have quality. I like to have players that in the past was a winger because in this situation they are good at one vs one,”
This is shown at the Italian’s previous sides, too. When he won the Premier League in 2017 with Chelsea, it was Victor Moses who was asked to fulfill the role, while Achraf Hakimi shone on the right flank during Inter Milan’s Scudetto win in 2021.
There are very few fullbacks in world football who can strike a ball like Pedro Porro. pic.twitter.com/bZ7KJlDeU7
— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) January 26, 2023
And central (metaphorically speaking) to that is the Spanish wing-back, who has popped up with 3 goals and an impressive 11 assists so far this season for the Portuguese side across all competitions.
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Key Strengths
Without a doubt Porro’s most valuable attribute is his ability to find an accurate cross on a regular basis. No one in the Portuguese top flight has attempted more than his 9 crosses per 90, while he averages two per game more than the next best in class, Benfica’s Alex Grimaldo.
The defender’s preference is for aerial balls across the face of goal rather than looking to get to the byline and cut the ball back to an onrushing attacker. He tends to cross from the area between 25 and 6 yards from goal on the right flank.
Often able to come inside either to support the midfield or onto his left foot, he is decisive with his final action too, whether it be a shot (he averages over 2.5 per game) or a pass.
He is also keen to progress the ball quickly, something that Conte will find useful. He attempts over 11 long passes per game, often looking to drop the ball over the opposition defence for attackers running in behind, a tactic that Tottenham often look to use with Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-Min Son.
However, he isn’t the most accurate when doing so, completing just 5 of those 11 (43%), and this may be something that requires some fine-tuning in north London.
Though riskier on the ball than either Matt Doherty or Emerson (his pass completion is almost 10% less than either), he is a key outlet for Sporting to get the ball up the pitch, progressing the ball the furthest and making almost 7 times the key passes out of any of those at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
What needs work
While he is undoubtedly impressive in attack, Porro can lack a little defensively. Looking at him in comparison to those already in north London, he wins fewer tackles than either Emerson or Doherty, while he is also dribbled past far more often (once per game on average, almost double that of Emerson’s).
Meanwhile, he averages just 2.24 tackles and interceptions, one fewer per game than either of Tottenham’s current options, and he also ranks lowest of the three for clearances, though at least some of this is likely to be down to Sporting’s dominance in Portugal. Perhaps more concerning is his tackle percentage, which once again is the lowest of the three, and suggests that someone is able to get around the defender every other attempt.
He can also be caught out of position defensively, in part due to his high starting position. As seen below for instance, the Spaniard neglects to track the run of the opposition winger into his own half after being caught ball-watching. Fortunately, a poor touch allows him to recover.
And while Porro’s defending has improved since his move to Sporting (he is being dribbled past far less than he was last season, for instance), he is still very much a wing-back in the attacking mold, which may force Cristian Romero to alter some of his more aggressive rampages up the pitch. Nonetheless, he could be the perfect fit for Conte’s demands.
Of course, it is worth tempering this with the fact that the Portuguese top-flight is very different to the Premier League, but recent signings have included the likes of Ruben Dias, Luis Diaz, Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Nunes, Darwin Nunez and Fabio Vieira, so there is reason to believe that Porro can be a success in north London.
