Tottenham Hotspur have now emerged as the mystery club to have allegedly made a move for Porto wide man Pepe.
Porto star Pepe is wanted at Tottenham Hotspur but an opening approach has been rejected. That is according to Portuguese newspaper A Bola, who claim that Tottenham have made their opening offer for Pepe.
It’s stated that Tottenham have offered a package worth €60million (£51.5million) with €45million (£38.5million) in fixed money and €15million (£13million) in potential add-ons.
Porto have said no, sticking to their demands of €75million (£64million) for Pepe, and won’t accept a penny less.
That’s the value of Pepe’s release clause in his Porto contract and Tottenham have been told to pay up or forget about a deal
The report adds that Arsenal have also been interested in signing Pepe this summer with Edu seemingly a fan of his fellow Brazilian.
This comes after Goal reported on Wednesday that Porto have been negotiating to sell Pepe to a mystery English club.
The club was not named but it now seems that Tottenham are the ones to make the move – not London rivals Arsenal.
Who is Tottenham Hotspur target Pepe?
Pepe was born in Foz do Iguaçu and started his career with Foz do Iguaçu Futebol Clube, spending Time on loan at Coritiba as a teenager.
Gremio then pounced to sign Pepe permanently in 2016, which is where the 26-year-old really kicked on.
32 goals in 144 games saw Pepe become a wanted man and Porto were able to bring him over to Portugal back in 2021.
Pepe arrived as a winger and has played on both flanks for Porto, but has also been converted to play as a right back. Pepe’s versatility to play as a winger, attacking midfielder and even right back will be very appealing to potential suitors, including Mikel Arteta and Ange Postecoglou.
Both Arteta and Postecoglou like real fluidity and have been pushing the use of full backs infield to assist in build-up play.
Pepe could be viewed as a player who can play that role whilst offering depth further up the pitch.
It’s unlikely that we see either Arsenal or Tottenham meet the £64million demands though and it’s even surprising to hear that Tottenham have alleged offered that £51.5million package.
We can’t see a move to Tottenham materialising before the transfer deadline but Pepe is a name to keep an eye on moving forward.
