Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim has admitted that Tottenham-bound Pedro Porro was one of his ‘favourites’ at the club.
The right-back, who completed his £42million move to Spurs on Tuesday, asked not to train with Sporting on Monday in an attempt to speed up negotiations between the two clubs ahead of the transfer deadline.
Despite his eagerness to seek an exit, Porro remained one of Amorim’s favourite players until the very end.
Insisting the full-back will be sorely missed, Amorim said during a press conference on Tuesday: ‘In relation to Porro, it’s more than what happened with Nuno Mendes, with Matheus (Nunes).
‘(It was) more than a professional relationship, and of course they are missed, but the personal relationship is something we are very sorry about. Our relationship is very close, he will be missed.’
Amorim then suggested that he and Porro shared a father-son relationship at the Portuguese outfit.
He continued: ‘In football, we get used to change from a very young age. One day they are our children, our best friends, and now he is (Antonio) Conte’s son.
‘If we play against him, I already know his difficulties. We remain friends, I move on, now my favourites are others.
The transfer collapse subsequently prompted Porro to miss training, having set his sights on a move to the Premier League.
Talks were resurrected on Monday evening as Spurs improved their initial offer £39m to £42m, giving up a percentage of their sell-on for winger Marcus Edwards as part of the deal.
Ahead of jetting off to London on Monday night, Porro said: ‘I’m grateful to Sporting, I love the club — I didn’t train as I was only focused on the transfer to Spurs, but I will always be thankful to the club.
‘I am very happy for this step, but I am also leaving a club that has given me everything and I hope it goes well for them.