Lopez ignores mum's warning about not biting his nails
Over the last few years, Porto has seemed like a finishing-school for South American players looking to make a splash in European football – the likes of Deco, Diego and Anderson have all passed through the Estádio do Dragão and since gone on to bigger and better things.
The next Porto star set for a big money move to a more established league looks to be Argentine forward Lisandro Lopez.
Lopez had last week looked set to make a £17 million move to Lyon after the French side agreed a fee with Porto for the player’s services – but the deal now appears to be stalling with Lyon apparently having second thoughts over the size of the transfer fee.
This hold up could present Premier League sides with the opportunity to pounce, and there are sure to be several sides that’d be keen to add Lopez to their squad.
Aston Villa, Manchester City and Tottenham have been linked with the striker over the past few months, and he’s certainly good enough for the Premier League if his Champions League performances this season are anything to go by. The 26-year-old he scored six goals over the course of the campaign – including one against Arsenal in the group stages – and also caused Manchester United a few problems in the quarter-finals.
"You there, I demand you step aside - post-haste"
Here, in conjunction with our friends at Championship Manager, is our scouting report into the Argentine striker
Lisandro López
Date of Birth: March 2nd 1983
Nationality: Argentinian
Club: FC Porto
Position: Striker
Transfer Value: £17 million
Career History: Lisandro López started his career in the Argentine first division, playing for Racing Club de Avellaneda. He made his debut in 2003 and went on to score 26 goals in 70 league appearances. This secured the striker a move to FC Porto for €2.5 million. López has maintained a rich vein of form in Portugal and also finished fourth in the goal scoring list for the UEFA Champions League. He has also won six international caps for Argentina.
Playing Style: Likes to play on the shoulder of the last man and use his pace to exploit gaps in the opposition defence. A brave striker and highly intelligent, who has honed his skills in Europe to become an even better player.
Strengths: López is a hard worker who has an abundance of pace of a low centre of gravity. He is a player that can read the game very well and is also a natural finisher.
Weakness: Not the biggest of players, either in height or weight and that could pose a problem in a more physical league such as the Premier League.
Ratings
• Overall 8.0
• Shooting 8.5
• Passing 7.2
• Heading 7.5
• Tackling 4.0
• Pace 7.9
• Work-rate 7.8
• Crossing 6.6
• Creativity 6.4
• Dribbling 7.8
