Tottenham Hotspur want Porto striker Ze Luis on loan

Premier League giants Spurs are said to be negotiating a deal for Porto striker Ze Luis as cover for their injured vice-captain, Harry Kane. The Englishman could miss the rest of the season following surgery on a serious hamstring tear suffered against Southampton earlier this month. 

Things have hardly improved for Spurs despite Jose Mourinho taking over after Mauricio Pochettino was sacked following a poor start to the season. With his best player and talisman, Kane, out with injury, it will be even more difficult for Mourinho to inspire Tottenham to mount a comeback in the remainder of the season. 

However, it is reported in Portugal that his friend and agent Jorge Mendes and his former club FC Porto could come in aid of the 'Special One' as Porto forward Ze Luis has been offered to the north London club on loan with an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season. 

The deal, however, could prove to be a complicated one as the 28-year-old would require a special work permit in order to play for the Lilywhites due to his nationality. He is capped at international level by Cape Verde who sit outside the top 50 in the FIFA World Rankings and players from those national teams 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. He only re-joined the national side earlier this year and has 19 caps to his name in which he has scored three times. 

As a result, Zé Luis will need to obtain a special work permit, which will be under the consideration of the Exceptions Panel in which Tottenham will have justify why the player does not meet certain criteria and the panel needs to be convinced that the player do not meet them again in the future. 

Both Tottenham and Porto are hopeful that the work permit issues can be solved and Jorge Mendes brokering the deal certainly helps. 

If this move happens, Spurs could get a worthy deputy to Kane who has had too much workload on his shoulders in the last few years.

Featured Image Credits - Daily Star