London: Out-of-favour Brazilian Lucas Moura is set to secure a move to Tottenham Hotspur from French giants Paris Saint Germain, British media reported on Saturday.
The 25-year-old winger — capped 34 times — expressed his sadness to French sports daily L’Equipe earlier this week at being frozen out by PSG as his compatriot Neymar’s arrival from Barcelona has seen him fall down the pecking order.
However, The Sun and the Daily Mirror both claim Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has offered him an escape route — and Champions League football as he has not played for PSG in the competition this season — by making a bid of 25 million pounds ($35.4m).
The reports said Lucas, who has made just six substitute appearances for PSG this term, has been shown around Spurs’ training facilities and would prefer a move to the Premier League although both Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla have expressed an interest. Betis have also been linked.
Should he move to Spurs he would be reunited with former PSG teammate Serge Aurier, the Ivory Coast full-back who joined the London club at the beginning of the campaign.
Lucas, who scored 19 times in all competitions for PSG last season, had been a highly-rated target for Manchester United when he opted to join PSG from Sao Paulo in 2013.
PSG have to sell to balance the books or else fall foul of UEFA’s financial fair play rules following the world-record acquisition of Neymar and the loan signing of teenage French starlet Kylian Mbappe last August.
Together, those two transfers will cost PSG more than 400 million euros ($490 million) once they complete Mbappe’s permanent deal from Monaco at the end of this season.
They will hope to recuperate a chunk of that from the sale of a player they bought for around 45 million euros and who helped them win four straight Ligue 1 titles.
Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino believes new signing Guido Carrillo’s Champions League experience with French club AS Monaco can help rejuvenate the club’s attack and guide them towards Premier League safety.
Southampton, who are 18th in the Premier League standings, signed the Argentine forward from the French side on Thursday for a reported club record fee of about 19 million pounds ($26.94 million).
Carrillo, 26, spent two-and-a-half years at Monaco, helping them win the French title and reach the Champions League semi-finals last season.
“I think that the main thing he has been working in Monaco more than two years in the top team, playing Champions League, high level,” Pellegrino said ahead of Southampton’s FA Cup fourth round clash against Watford.
The south coast club have struggled up front with 24 goals in as many league games but Pellegrino, who has worked with Carrillo during their time at Argentina’s Estudiantes in 2015, believes his compatriot offers solutions similar to injured striker Charlie Austin.
Austin, who has six goals for Southampton, was ruled out for two months or more after a suspected hamstring tear in last month’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Huddersfield Town.