Jesus Corona in action for the Mexico national team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. (imago Images)
According to journalist Duncan Castles (h/t Express), Tottenham Hotspur are ‘set to move’ for FC Porto wide man, Jesus Corona, who is believed to be worth around £22m. The 28-year-old also caught the eye of Spurs manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, during his time at Wolves. Nuno still has ‘strong contacts’ at Porto, where he played under Jose Mourinho.
Corona came through the youth ranks at Monterrey and moved to FC Twente in 2013. After two years in the Eredivisie, the Mexican international joined Porto, where he has been for six years now. But there is now a possibility that he could be wearing Tottenham white next season. So, let us find out if this move makes sense for Spurs.
The situation surrounding the wingers at Tottenham is a little complicated. Jose Mourinho and Ryan Mason found a good option down the right-hand side in the second half of last season when Gareth Bale hit form. The Welsh winger became a constant fixture in Spurs’ line-up earlier this year, featuring in 14 of their last 16 league games.
But that affair was never meant to last the distance as the 32-year-old was loaned in from Real Madrid last year. The Welshman is back in the Spanish capital now, leaving Spurs one man short on the right-hand side. The club still has Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura in that position, but the Brazilian’s services may be required at centre-forward.
The club currently does not have a backup for star striker, Harry Kane. Moura has played as a centre-forward at Spurs before and can be made to play that role again instead of being played out wide. The situation could get even more complicated if Kane leaves for Manchester City, a team he is being linked to as per a report by football.london.
20-year-old Jack Clarke cannot be expected to shoulder the team’s attacking burden on the right-hand side considering he is yet to play a single minute in the league for Spurs. And according to Sky Sports, Spurs are close to completing a deal for Bryan Gil from Sevilla which would see right-winger Erik Lamela go the other way.
Gil, like Clarke, is just 20. The young Spaniard has only ever played professionally in Spain. If he is signed, Nuno would be wise to slowly ease him into the squad rather than throwing the youngster into the shark tank of Premier League football. In that regard, 28-year-old Jesus Corona can be the man Spurs field down that side in the next few seasons.
Corona has plenty of experience in Portugal, having made 269 appearances for Porto and earning 51 caps for the Mexican national team during that time. With Spurs in a tricky situation regarding personnel down the right-flank, the Hermosillo-born wide man can assuage a lot of fears regarding Spurs’ depth in that area.
The highly-versatile Corona can also play anywhere along the right-hand side, including the full-back area. According to Italian outlet Calciomercato (h/t football.london), AC Milan are eyeing Serge Aurier this summer, who is out of contract next season. So, if and when Aurier does leave, Corona can provide important competition to Matt Doherty in the right-back area as well.
