TOTTENHAM have joined Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain in the battle to sign Leicester star Ricardo Pereira.
Jose Mourinho is reportedly willing to spend £30million on the Portuguese defender as he strengthens his problem positions, the full-backs.
Tottenham have joined the race to sign Leicester star Ricardo Pereira
The new Tottenham boss has persevered with the inconsistent Serge Aurier at right-back in recent weeks.
On the left flank, centre-back Jan Vertonghen has been preferred to out-and-out left-backs such as Danny Rose such is the weakness on that side of the pitch.
Now Mourinho wants to move for Pereira to fill the gaping hole in Spurs’ starting XI – left vacant since Kieran Trippier joined Atletico Madrid – say The Express.
However, Spurs will face competition from both United and PSG to land in-demand Pereira this month.
Leicester are currently surpassing all expectations this season, sitting second in the Premier League – with the Portuguese right-back a key cog in the machine.
And Brendan Rodgers wants to keep it that way, stating clearly no stars will be allowed to leave this winter.
The Foxes boss said: “There will be nobody leaving in January, categorically.
“I am speaking regularly with (director of football) Jon (Rudkin) and Top (owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha).
“It is really clear, we want to keep this squad together.
“It is an exciting team with growth and development in it, so we want to ensure they stay around beyond January.”
Leicester signed Pereira from Porto for just £21m in the summer of 2018 and had been an ever-present in the league this season – scoring twice – until injury ruled him out of Saturday’s win over West Ham.
The future of Pereira is the second major worry for Rodgers, who has got Chelsea and Manchester City hovering around left-back Ben Chilwell.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk