The January transfer window slammed shut on Tuesday night and Tottenham Hotspur saved their final piece of business of the month until almost the last minute.
Spurs officially announced the signing of “special” wing-back Pedro Porro – as labelled by Zach Lowy – from Sporting just ten minutes before the deadline, with an obligation to make his initial loan spell a permanent deal in the summer.
He became the second player to be signed by Fabio Paratici and Antonio Conte in January after the arrival of Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Spanish side Villarreal.
The club’s business in the winter market came after they splurged on Yves Bissouma, Richarlison, Fraser Forster, Ivan Perisic, among others, in the summer.
Now, how could the team’s line-up during the second half of the campaign look?
Here is Football FanCast’s predicted, post-window XI…
Whilst there is no set XI to be used in every match and Conte could regularly tinker with the side depending on the opposition and the competition, this sparkling new team could be an exciting watch for supporters if they line up on the pitch together in the coming months.
Starting with the players who were already at the club, Yves Bissouma may not be able to force his way into the side regularly after struggling in the first half of the campaign. The midfielder has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.68 across 19 appearances and this does not suggest that he should be starting ahead of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (7.23) or Rodrigo Bentancur (7.20).
Emerson has started 13 matches at wing-back in the Premier League this term and has created a meagre 0.3 chances per match – averaging a Sofascore rating of 6.87.
Porro, meanwhile, provided 2.4 key passes per game and averaged a score of 7.34 in 14 Liga Portugal outings for Sporting in the first half of the season, which suggests that the soon to be €45m (£40m) signing could provide a huge lift to the team from a creative perspective if he can adapt to English football.
In the front three, Conte could boldly ditch Heung-Min Son from the XI. The South Korea international has struck just once in 18 Premier League matches, outside of a stunning hat-trick against Leicester, and leaving him on the bench for the newly-signed Danjuma could give him the kick he needs to up his game.
The Netherlands international, who scored on his Spurs debut against Preston, netted 16 times and produced four assists in 27 starts for Villarreal in LaLiga and the Champions League in 2021/22 and this shows that the forward has the potential to offer more than Son has so far this season.
Now, imagine the Dutch forward and the South Korean star battling it out to land a place in the starting XI in the coming weeks. The competition for places could help players to thrive, by motivating them to give 110%, and the left wing position, in particular, could benefit from this.
