Tottenham wants to keep Pedro Porro: a new contract as a message that key players are not for sale
Tottenham Hotspur is accelerating work on a new long-term agreement with Pedro Porro, one of the most important players in the squad and a right-back who has again attracted the attention of major European clubs in recent months. According to Spanish outlet AS, the London club reacted decisively after interest from Manchester City and moved closer to an agreement with the player’s representatives, while interest from Real Madrid had also previously been mentioned in English and Spanish media. At Tottenham, according to the information available, this is not only a classic contract extension, but an attempt to clearly place one of the most stable first-team players at the center of the new sporting project.
Porro is under contract with Tottenham until 2028, according to estimates by the specialized database Capology, so the club is not formally under immediate pressure to sell. Still, the fact that in two years he would enter a more sensitive phase of his contract gives context to the current move. In football practice, precisely such moments are often used to redefine a player’s status, especially when clubs with greater financial power or a clear need for reinforcement in his position appear around him. Tottenham therefore, according to AS, wants to act quickly and offer Porro a significantly better contract, with the aim of making him one of the best-paid players in the dressing room.
De Zerbi sees him as a player around whom a team can be built
A key part of the story is the arrival of Roberto De Zerbi, whom Tottenham officially appointed as head coach of the men’s team on a long-term contract on March 31, 2026. In its announcement, the club emphasized that he is a coach who brings experience from the Premier League and European football, while sporting director Johan Lange described him as a creative and progressive coach. De Zerbi himself said at the time that his goal was to build a team capable of great achievements and football that would be ambitious and recognizable.
In that context, Porro is not just a full-back, but a player of a profile that fits well into De Zerbi’s idea. In a tactical analysis of De Zerbi’s teams, the Premier League highlighted his tendency toward possession, creating overloads through wide areas, attracting pressing and quick changes in the direction of attack. Such football requires full-backs who are not limited to a classic defensive role, but can participate in building attacks, move into the middle, play under pressure and make decisions in the final third of the pitch. During his time at Tottenham, Porro has often shown precisely those characteristics.
According to AS, De Zerbi made it clear in internal discussions that he does not want to lose the Spanish international. The same source states that the coach considers Porro valuable both on and off the pitch, which suggests that the club sees him as more than a market asset. For Tottenham, which is trying to stabilize its project after a turbulent season, keeping such a player also carries symbolic weight. A new contract would be a signal to the dressing room, the supporters and potential reinforcements that the club does not intend to begin its rebuild by selling footballers who should be carrying the team.
Interest from big clubs has changed the dynamics of the negotiations
Porro’s name had already previously been linked with Real Madrid, and in recent weeks especially with Manchester City. AS reported that City showed strong interest in the Spanish right-back and that sporting director Hugo Viana knows the player well from their shared period at Sporting. That detail is important because Porro is not an unknown quantity to clubs looking for an attacking, technically high-quality full-back. In Lisbon, he developed into one of the more notable players in the Portuguese league, and then in the Premier League he confirmed that he can maintain a high level in a more demanding environment as well.
AS states that Tottenham responded quickly to City’s interest and that the positions of the club and the player’s camp are very close. According to the same report, with a new contract Porro could enter the very top of the club’s wage structure, and Tottenham is ready to make a major financial effort to remove the possibility of a sale. Such a decision is not unusual for clubs that want to avoid negotiating from a weaker position. When a player who is important tactically and in market terms approaches the middle of his contract, an early reaction can be cheaper and more sustainable in sporting terms than a later attempt to save the situation.
Real Madrid has been mentioned in media reports in the context of a search for additional solutions at right-back. Still, there is currently no official confirmation that the Madrid club has sent an offer to Tottenham for Porro. Likewise, as of June 12, 2026, Tottenham has not officially announced an extension of his contract. That is why it is most precise to speak of intensive negotiations and a strong intention from the London club, rather than a completed deal.
Porro currently does not want to open the transfer story
Porro himself has publicly tried to lower the level of speculation while with the Spain national team. In a conversation reported by AS, when asked about offers, he said he does not want to listen to anything until the end of the World Cup and reminded everyone that he has a contract with his club. When asked directly about Manchester City, he said he knows nothing about it. Such an answer does not automatically close the door to future talks, but it shows that at this moment the player does not want to create pressure either on the club or on the national team.
The Spanish football federation states in its official profile that Porro was born on September 13, 1999 in Don Benito and that he has made 18 appearances for the senior national team. In the national-team environment, he is competing for a place on the right flank, and ahead of the major tournament he emphasized that he feels ready and that, regardless of the coach’s decision, every player will give everything for the national team. The RFEF also reported his statement that playing at the World Cup is a childhood dream, which further explains why at this moment he wants to keep his focus on the pitch.
For Tottenham, it is also important that the player is not publicly sending signals of dissatisfaction. In periods when interest from bigger clubs appears, a player’s rhetoric can often significantly affect the negotiating dynamics. Porro has, at least according to publicly available statements, kept a measured tone and emphasized his existing contract. That allows Tottenham to conduct extension talks without an open crisis, but it does not reduce the need for a quick agreement if the club wants to prevent the same stories from repeating throughout the entire transfer window.
From Sporting to one of Tottenham’s most reliable players
Tottenham brought Porro from Sporting on January 31, 2023, initially on loan until the end of the season, with an obligation to buy in the summer of 2023. The club’s official website states that he made his debut on February 11, 2023, and already in his first half-season he showed his attacking potential by scoring three goals in the Premier League. His arrival at the time fit the need for a dynamic player on the right side, and his later development showed that Tottenham did not get only a specialist for one role, but a footballer who can play as a right-back, wing-back or a player who drops deeper and moves into the middle in possession.
The club profile highlights that in the 2023/24 season he was particularly important in Ange Postecoglou’s system, in which he often moved from right-back into midfield. In that season, according to Tottenham, he collected 35 Premier League starts, scored three goals and recorded seven assists. Such output from a defender explains why Porro became valuable on the market. Modern clubs are increasingly looking for wide players who can create chances, participate in pressing and change the team’s structure during a match, and in London Porro has built a reputation precisely in that profile.
Tottenham’s official website states that Porro appeared in 50 of 60 matches in all competitions in the 2024/25 season and played an important role on the path toward the Europa League title. The club particularly highlighted his goals against Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals and Bodo/Glimt in the semi-finals, as well as the fact that he started the final against Manchester United. By the end of that season he had 105 appearances and 11 goals for Tottenham, confirming a level of continuity that in professional football is often just as important as current form.
The financial side of the deal and the message to the dressing room
Capology’s estimates state that Porro currently earns around £85,000 gross per week, with that database noting that salaries are estimates, not official club figures. If AS’s reports that Tottenham wants to make him one of the best-paid players in the squad are confirmed, that would mean a significant increase in his status. In practice, such contracts do not only reward past performance, but also buy stability. The club pays a higher salary in order to retain control over the player’s future and reduce the risk that transfer negotiations begin under pressure.
For Tottenham, that is especially important because the club is in a phase in which it must rebuild confidence in its sporting direction. De Zerbi’s arrival was the first major signal of a new phase, and keeping important players is the second part of the same strategy. If the club wants to convince reinforcements that a serious project is being built, it can hardly at the same time allow the departure of players who fit the coach’s model and have market value. Porro’s extension would therefore also be a communication move: Tottenham wants to show that it is not selling out of necessity and that it is trying to build a more ambitious team around its existing key performers.
Such a message is important for De Zerbi himself as well. Coaches who arrive with a clear tactical identity often need players who can quickly understand complex principles of play. Porro already has experience in roles that require technique, aggression, repeated high-intensity runs and precision in the final third. Losing such a player in the early phase of the project would mean an additional burden for the transfer window, because Tottenham would have to find a replacement of the same profile, which is expensive and uncertain on the market.
Why right-back has become a strategic position
Porro’s situation also shows a broader trend in European football. Right-back is no longer exclusively a defensive position in which reliability in duels and crossing from deep are required. In top teams, that role often includes moving into midfield, creating a numerical advantage, participating in playing out of pressing and recognizing the moment when space behind the opposing defense should be attacked. That is why players like Porro are interesting to clubs looking for tactical flexibility, not just a classic defender.
De Zerbi’s model further emphasizes the importance of such a profile. According to the Premier League’s analysis, his teams use possession to lure the opponent into pressing, then open space in wide areas through quick changes of rhythm and direction. Full-backs in that system must be technically secure, but also brave enough to receive the ball under pressure. At Tottenham, Porro has often shown that he does not hide from the ball, which is probably one of the reasons why the coach sees him as an important element of the future team.
On the other hand, keeping Porro does not solve all of Tottenham’s challenges. The club must continue strengthening the squad, define the hierarchy in defense and find a balance between high intensity and defensive stability. Still, negotiations over the new contract show that Tottenham has identified at least part of the core it wants to keep. If the agreement is formalized, Porro could move from the status of a sought-after player to the status of one of the symbols of De Zerbi’s new cycle in north London.
Sources:
- AS – report on Tottenham’s negotiations with Pedro Porro, Manchester City’s interest and Roberto De Zerbi’s position (link)
- AS – Pedro Porro’s statements on his future, Manchester City and his focus on the national team (link)
- Tottenham Hotspur – official announcement on the appointment of Roberto De Zerbi as head coach (link)
- Tottenham Hotspur – official Pedro Porro profile, biography and club data (link)
- Premier League – tactical analysis of Roberto De Zerbi’s team (link)
- RFEF – official Pedro Porro profile in the Spanish national team (link)
- RFEF – Pedro Porro’s statements on playing at the World Cup and the state of the national team (link)
- Capology – estimates of Pedro Porro’s contract length and salary, with a note that they are not official club figures (link)