Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur faced stiff competition in their attempt to sign Alejo Veliz right up until the last moments before he boarded his flight to London.
Tottenham sealed the signature of the highly-rated striker from Rosario Central earlier this month with the 19-year-old joining the Lilywhites for a fee in the region of £13million and penned a six-year contract (90min).
The Argentine Under-20 captain was also reported to have been the subject of interest from a number of clubs including AC Milan, AS Roma, Nottingham Forest, and Salernitana.
Romano has claimed that such was the demand to land Veliz, that some clubs on the European continent were in contact with the forward while he was on the way to the airport to board his flight to London asking him to not make the journey such was their eagerness to try to pip Tottenham at the final moments with an improved deal.
SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, ARGENTINA – MAY 23: Alejo Veliz of (Photo by Rodrigo Valle – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Clubs tried to stop Alejo Veliz from joining Spurs
He told Here We Go Podcast: “Let me finish by mentioning Alejo Veliz. Tottenham feel they have signed a very important player. When he was going to the airports, some European clubs were saying ‘wait, don’t travel, we want to try until the end.’
“It was not only Tottenham on this guy. It will take time, he’s not ready to play tomorrow, but he is very talented, they believe they have signed a top talent, a top striker for the future,”
Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou has already tried to take the pressure off the shoulders of the striker by insisting that fans will have to remain patient before they see him in first-team action.
He told Football.London: “It will be a while for him, I think. We’ve just got to let him settle, he’s come halfway around the world.
“He’s a young guy, it’s a fairly different level. He’s one we’ll invest in in the long-term but I wouldn’t expect him to see any minutes in the first part of the season.”
SpursWeb Opinion
It is great to see Tottenham looking to sign top talent once again, with the work which Fabio Paratici did to bring in the likes of Pape Matar Sarr and Destiny Udogie for relatively low transfer fees having already looked to have paid dividends given their performances in the opening two matches of the new season.
Hopefully, Veliz will be given the time he needs to adapt and become another shrewd signing further down he line.
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