Tottenham eyeing 27-year-old goal machine but Barcelona might have the edge

The 27-year-old scored 30 goals in all competitions last season, as well as 30 the year before that, so his prolific form is nothing new, even if the consistency of his performances is now getting harder to ignore.

At the moment, everything is still at an early stage, and there’s no indication of talks or offers happening just yet.

However, I’m reliably told by figures in the industry that Tottenham are “making a striker a top priority for January”. This comes as they seem to be paying particularly close attention to Pavlidis.

There is little indication, however, that a January deal will be possible as Benfica absolutely do not want to sell in the middle of the season.

The Portuguese giants have also protected the player with a €100m release clause, so any interested clubs will surely have to wait until next summer to get into serious negotiations to try to bring that fee down.

The Catalan giants tried to sign Julian Alvarez during the summer as they looked for a top class replacement for Robert Lewandowski, but in the end they settled for a short-term and low-cost solution in the form of Gabriel Jesus.

Pavlidis could make sense as a top target for Barcelona in the near future, though, and the player himself would likely be keen on a move to a Champions League club that can offer him a key role and regular playing time.

Pavlidis might also do well to look at how strikers like Darwin Nunez and Viktor Gyokeres have struggled in English football in recent times despite arriving on the back of prolific form in Portugal, with a move to Spain perhaps not quite as big a step up or culture shock.