Mourinho wants Porto’s Ze Luis as Kane replacement but Tottenham transfer hinges on Cape Verde striker’s work permit – The Sun
SPURS are said to be negotiating a deal for Porto striker Ze Luis as cover for injured Harry Kane.
Kane could miss the rest of the season following surgery on a serious hamstring tear suffered against Southampton earlier this month.
Portuguese newspaper Record claim Ze Luis, 28, is said to be close to joining Jose Mourinho’s side thanks to agent Jorge Mendes brokering a loan deal between the clubs.
The 6ft 1in striker has been on form for Porto, scoring eight goals from his 20 appearances and becoming the most valuable Cape Verdean footballer, following his £7.65million move from Spartak Moscow last summer.
Ze Luis could fill the void that Tottenham so desperately need addressing after Kane's injury
His style is not too dissimilar to that of Kane’s with him being a strong header of the ball.
Super agent Mendes, who is known to be close to Mourinho, was responsible for arranging the signing of Gedson Fernandes at Tottenham and is said to the master mind behind the imminent Luis deal.
However, being a Cape Verde international, Luis' transfer to London has become a little more complex than Mourhino would have liked.
The striker will need to obtain a work permit to complete a transfer to Spurs.
With Cape Verde sitting outside the top 50 in the FIFA World Rankings, players from the national side do not qualify as “elite” or “internationally established at the highest level”.
Even if Cape Verde were within the top 50, Luis would still not qualify for a permit as he would have had to play 75 per cent of his national team’s commitments in the last two years.
Having only re-joined the national side earlier this year, Luis has 19 caps (and three goals) to his name for the 2019/2020 season.
As a result, Zé Luís will need to obtain a special work permit, which will be under the consideration of the Exceptions Panel.
The panel will take into account both objective and subjective criteria.
Specifically, requiring Tottenham to justify the reasons why the Luis does not meet certain criteria and to convince the Exception Panel that he will meet them in the future.
That being said, both clubs are reportedly confident all permit issues can be solved.
Mourinho will be hoping that the signing can help with the loss of star striker Harry Kane.
Kane could miss the rest of the season following surgery on a serious hamstring tear suffered against Southampton earlier this month.
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