Corinthians only hold 40% of Arana, further meeting planned

TRANSFER TALK


Tottenham target 19-year-old (20 next April) Guilherme Arana didn't play for Corinthians yesterday as they beat Santa Cruz in their 60,044 capacity stadium 4-2 away from home in Recife, Brazil.

Santa Cruz finished 2nd in Serie B last season, were promoted and stand 19th out of 20 after 30 games in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A this season. Corinthians sit 8th, 1pt and 2 places off the Copa Libertadores qualifiers.

This was the 17th time this season young Brazilian left-back Arana has sat on the bench without being used in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. He played 8 minutes on 26 May and played 90 minutes the only time he has been in the Copa Libertadores squad this year on 21 April.

Reports suggest he is a promising player whose game would fit the Premier League, but he doesn't seem to be being used much.

He is reported as possessing extreme pace, acceleration, and dribbling skills which would certainly suit the Pochettino system. Both Walker and Rose have pace to get forward and back as required. With interest from Chelsea surrounding Ben Davies Pochettino may need another left-back although it sounds as though he is a little way away from the standard we require at the moment.

Our initial sounding out meeting was positive with nothing concrete discussed but reports from Brazil suggest further talks are planned. Arana is also holding discussions with Sporting from Portugal, a well-worn route for South Americans who want to come to Europe to earn much better wages.

We come across the difficulty once again with a South American player through as his economic rights ownership which is split between two parties. His club Corinthians hold 40% and businessman Fernando Garcia owns the other 60%.

Both Schalke and Tottenham are being reported as lining him up for purchase in January while Sporting and PSG are also reported as interested parties.

We initially contacted the Brazilian Under-20 team management to talk to Arana as Brazil were playing England Under-20 side over here in September, a game we lost 2-1.