The Times yesterday suggested that Manchester United have turned their attentions to Porto playmaker Joao Moutinho. While the Manchester club reportedly retain an interest in Tottenham’s Luka Modric, Moutinho represents a more affordable creative solution for the hub of Manchester United’s midfield.
Today however, many of the sports pages are running with the story that Tottenham’s new coach, Andre Villas Boas, has made Moutinho his number one target to compensate for the probable departure of Modric. Moutinho and AVB spent a famous year together at Porto in which the two won every competition going.
Moutinho is something of an enigma. Like many other stars from the dazzingly skilled Portuguese league, the attacking midfielder has been linked with a move to the Premier League for years. Alas, for some reason or other, no English club has taken their alleged interest any further. He started out at Ronnie’s Sporting Lisbon and moved to Porto in 2010, where he has continued on a steady, upward trajectory, runnin tings without netting too frequently – he’s more of a provider than a goal scorer, much like Luka.
You only needed to glimpse any Portugal game at EURO 2012 to see that Moutinho is an important international player. He’s tiny, technically brilliant, controls the tempo of the game and rarely gifts possession to the opposition. He is at the start of every progressive Portugal move. Surely then, sooner or later, he will leave the Portuguese league to try his feet abroad?
One can only assume that Premier League managers have had misgivings about his ability to withstand the physical demands of the English game, because technically he is the complete package.
At 25, he has learnt his trade and should be ready to excel for a major club. Moutinho can be anything that he wants to be, such is the natural ability of the player.
The way things look like panning out Manchester United could end up as the biggest losers here. Daniel Levy is intent on selling Modric abroad and, if you were a betting man, you would think that Moutinho is more likely to want a move to Tottenham, where he can work with a manager he knows and respects. Now that EURO 2012 is over, things look to be hotting up in the transfer market. Watch this space.
Catcher
Jul 4, 2012 at 8:33 am
I would still like to see Modric stay at the Lane, a whole new start under AVB may just appeal to him, rather than sitting on the bench at Real or living in the rain of Manchester.