Alejo Veliz set to finalize £8m transfer to Bahia

We first reported this back in February, but it’s probably time for a reminder. Remember Alejo Veliz? Spurs signed the then-19 year old Argentine striker from Rosario Central for £13m back in 2023 after he banged in 19 goals for his home club. That felt like a large fee for an unproven teenager who hadn’t played outside of his home country’s league, but hey — that’s what we were doing back then, signing young, unproven talents and hoping we’d hit the winning lotto numbers with at least one of them.

Well, that didn’t turn out so well. Veliz played sparingly in the brief time he was actually at Tottenham, making 8 appearances and scoring one goal in a 4-2 league loss to Brighton. Since then he’s had a couple of unspectacular loans at Sevilla and Espanyol in La Liga before heading back to Rosario Central. Back in February Spurs agreed to sell Veliz to Brazilian Campeonato club Bahia for £7.8m.

Today, Alasdair Gold posted an update on Veliz — that agreement holds and Veliz was apparently spotted in Brazil to lock things up before the transfer becomes officially official this month.

Those of you who have been around the block with Spurs a few times know this isn’t the first, nor the last, time Spurs have whiffed after taking a chance on a young attacking talent. Veliz, however, never once looked like he had the stuff to make it in the Premier League — he was a big fish in a (very) small pond in Argentina and his game just never scaled up to the major European league level. That became pretty evident after he kind of flamed out on both of his La Liga goals.

I have nothing against the kid — far from it, I’d love to see him establish himself in a smaller South American league like Brazil and then potentially go from there. It’s clear, however, that he’s unlikely to crack Tottenham Hotspur’s first team and it’s best that he’s moved on. Bahia finished 7th in the Campeonato and finished third in the league in xG — seems like a pretty good place to land for now, and a nearly £8m transfer fee, which includes a 20% sell-on clause, isn’t awful and probably comes close to breaking even in accounting terms.

I’m sure we’ll get an official notification when it happens. In the meantime, buena suerte Alejo!