Tottenham have agreed a priority option to sign Johnny Cardoso from Real Betis in what is being seen as an unprecedented deal in football.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson admitted it’s “one of the strangest deals” he has ever seen.
Spurs will get first refusal on signing the central midfielder next summer for an agreed fee of £21million as part of their deal to sell Giovani Lo Celso to the Spanish outfit.
Should he end up moving to another club, then Spurs will receive a percentage after agreeing a sell-on clause for him.
Tottenham’s deal for Johnny Cardoso is a unique one
This is one of the most unorthodox deals in football history, but one that could gain Ange Postecoglou a new central midfielder next summer.
“Surely there’s only Daniel Levy that can construct a deal like that, isn’t there,” Robinson said to Football Insider.
“It’s one of the strangest deals that I’ve ever seen, it’s an incredible deal for Tottenham to have.
“Actually, first rights over the player, and if I’m led to believe right what I’ve read, they get a sell-on clause if it’s not them.
“How can you have a piece of a player that’s never played for your club and a sell-on clause?
“If that’s not a Tottenham Hotspur contract I don’t know what is, it’s a great option all around.
“He’s a very, very good player, I think to have first refusal on the player, it’s a really good deal for Tottenham.
“He’s a first-class player, he would do well but there’s a lot of ifs and buts that can happen in the next 6 -12 months.
“The manager at Tottenham may have changed, the system may have changed, the player’s form may have changed.
“But to have basically Daniel Levy’s covered all bases he can bring a really, really good player in if he keeps developing in the same way as he does and the manager, whoever’s in charge at that time, wants him.
“I mean, has that ever been done in football before? I don’t think it has.”
