Bid incoming: Paratici to make £34m offer for THFC target, he'd be a "special" signing - opinion

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Joao Palhinha to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

That’s according to a report by Portuguese publication Jornal de Noticias (via Sport Witness), who claim that, following earlier reports suggesting that Tottenham are at the front of the queue to land the Sporting Lisbon talent this summer, Fabio Paratici is now preparing an initial offer for the 26-year-old.

The report goes on to state that Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United are also interested in a move to bring the Portugal international to the Premier League, while the Liga Portugal side themselves are looking to receive a figure totalling €40m (£34m) in order to part with the defensive midfielder this summer.

With it being reported that Antonio Conte has prioritised the signing of a new central midfielder in the summer transfer window, it is easy to see why Paratici is plotting an offer for Palhinha ahead of Tottenham’s 2022/23 campaign.

Indeed, over his 26 Liga Portugal appearances this season, the £23.4m-rated talent has been in breathtaking form in the heart of Ruben Amorim’s midfield, making an average of 3.0 tackles, 1.0 interceptions, 0.9 clearances and winning 7.1 duels – at a success rate of 61% – per game.

The £24k-per-week defensively-minded midfielder has also impressed in an attacking capacity, scoring three goals and creating one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.0 shots, making 0.4 key passes and completing 0.5 dribbles per fixture.

These returns have seen the 12-time capped international who Amorim dubbed a “special player” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.11, ranking him as Sporting’s ninth-best performer