A huge transfer fee has been set for Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Pedro Neto, who Tottenham Hotspur are known to be one of the players targeting in the transfer market next summer.
"Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle United are aiming for Neto," the British team The Athletic said on the 23rd. "The transfer fee is a stumbling block. Wolverhampton needs about 80 million pounds about 134 billion won to break up with Neto."
Leading the offense at Wolverhampton with Hwang Hee-chan this season, Neto is evaluated as a player who can cause cracks on the opponent team's side based on his fast feet and strong physical fight. He even has a sharp kick.
He has played in 16 Premier League matches, scoring two goals and nine assists. He also topped the list of assists in the Premier League during the season.
The problem is that he has a so-called "glass body" temperament, which is prone to injury. He injured his hamstring during a game against Newcastle United in October last year and was sidelined for about two months.
Nevertheless, British media say that he will be a hot target for recruitment in the transfer market this summer due to his high skills in stirring the opposing defense.
Tottenham invested £47 million to sign Brennan Johnson for the same position as Neto in the transfer window last summer, but Johnson has only scored three goals and four assists in 22 matches this season. Manor Solomon has been sidelined for a long time due to injury. Timo Werner, who joined the winter transfer window, is also invigorating Tottenham's attack but is considered one step below Neto.
If Netu joins Tottenham, it is expected that the destructive power of the strikers will be achieved with Son Heung-min and Hishalysong. The depth of the offense is also added.
Neto's ninth help of the season came in a match against Tottenham on the 18th. He helped Joao Gomes score the winning goal in the 18th minute of the second half when the score was 1-1.
After the match, British media Mirror said, "Netu passed Tottenham's transfer audition," adding, "He was also linked to Arsenal."
"He was tireless in the match against Tottenham. He even showed a quick counterattack to help Gomes score," he added.
Along with Tottenham, Arsenal are the most active team in recruiting Netu. Arsenal want Bukayo Saka, the right flanker, to compete for the starting player. Since then, they have naturally picked Netu. They failed to recruit in the transfer market last winter, but chances are high that they will join Netu again this summer.
Wolverhampton coach Gary O'Neill expressed his willingness to protect Neto. He said, "I hope Neto and other clubs will not be connected. If we lose players, we will be invested in a proper way."
"We don't know what Tottenham will do to Neto. If Neto leaves this summer, it will cost about £80 million, but I'm not sure if Tottenham will invest that much to recruit him," The Athletic explained.
Despite Neto's high ransom, the reason why it is connected to Tottenham lies in Tottenham's changed investment direction. Tottenham has been active in the transfer market since the past few years, led by former sports director Fabio Paratic. Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Sarr, Destiny Udogi and Christian Romero, who joined Tottenham under Paratic, have all become indispensable players for Tottenham.
New coach Enze Postecoglou is also actively supporting him.
First off, they acquired Brennan Johnson 55 million euros, James Maddison 46.3 million euros, Mickey van Duffen 40 million euros, and Guillermo Vicario 18.5 million euros in the summer transfer window. They also invested 40 million euros and 30 million euros, respectively, to completely recruit Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski, who were on loan. Winger Manu Solomon embraced him through free agency.
In the winter transfer window, he signed Rad Dragushin for 30 million euros as his third defender, and Timo Werner on loan to add depth to the offense. Tottenham didn't just immediately recruit power. They also recruited promising English defender Ashley Phillips and promising Argentine striker Alejo Belize from the summer transfer window. In addition, they hired Swedish wonderkid midfielder Lucas Veribal after a competition with FC Barcelona. Veribal will join the Tottenham squad next season. According to TransferMarkt, Tottenham spent 272.1 million euros under Postecoglou this season and earned 117.2 million euros. Net spending amounts to 154.9 million euros.
Postecoglou is trying to build a young and exciting team and has successfully spent the summer and winter transfer window to secure a large base of support.
According to Football Insider, in addition to Netu, Tottenham's top target for recruitment is likely to be a new striker to succeed Harry Kane.
Postecoglou moved Son to striker after Kane was transferred to Bayern Munich instead of recruiting a new striker. Currently, Son is back on the left side and Hishalisson is used as the central striker. Son Heung-min scored 12 goals and six assists in 21 games, and Hishalisson scored 10 goals and three assists in 21 games, eliminating Kane's absence.
However, critics say that a striker is also needed in terms of rotation from a long-term perspective. Except for Son Heung-min and Hisali Song, Jamie Donley, who was born in 2005, is the only player in the Tottenham squad who can play as a central striker.
The striker who has been linked most strongly with Tottenham is Ivan Toney from Brentford. Toney is one of Brentford's leading strikers. He was promoted to the third place in the 2020-21 Championship with 31 goals, and 12 goals in the 2021-22 season and 14 last season, scoring double-digit goals in the Premier League for the second consecutive season. Toney's performance put Brentford at 13th place in the 2021-22 season, his first year in promotion, and successfully settled in the Premier League last season against expectations of a relegation battle. 안전놀이터
Tony, who was suspended for eight months by the English Football Association in May last year for 232 gambles in violation of the rules, returned to action against Nottingham Forest on the 21st of last month and scored three goals in four games to prove his skills.