At one point, Tottenham Hotspur thought Alejo Veliz was a hidden jewel of a striker in South America, to the extent that the club spent a whopping £13m to sign the then-19-year-old striker from Rosario Central in Argentina in the summer of 2023.
It did not go well. Veliz played a total of just 50 minutes for Tottenham, scoring one goal as a late sub against Brighton. He was loaned out that spring to Sevilla, where he barely played, and then had a more serviceable loan at Villarreal last season where he scored one goal in just over 1100 minutes. Veliz was loaned back to the club Spurs bought him from, Rosario Central, this past summer where he has 5 goals and 1 assist in 1200 minutes.
While he has not done enough to convince anyone that he has a future with Tottenham Hotspur, he’s done enough to get a permanent transfer. Cesar Luis Melo is now reporting that Campeonato Brasileiro side Bahía are now in negotiations to sign Veliz on a permanent transfer. Tottenham will shortly terminate Veliz’s loan in order to facilitate the move.
Some might think that Veliz was a “lottery ticket” when he was signed by Spurs, but you don’t spend £13m for a teenager from Argentina if you’re playing the lotto. This was just a bad transfer, full stop. I don’t have anything against Veliz, but it’s hard to justify the amount of money that Spurs paid for him. Melo doesn’t mention what the transfer fee to Bahia would be — the article says it is “quite high” but that’s very contextual considering we’re talking about a Brazilian football club and not, say, Fulham. I would be shocked if it’s anywhere close to the £13m Spurs paid for him.
Bad transfers happen. I hope Veliz goes on to have a fantastic football career and proves everyone, including me, wrong. But this was a bad deal from the very beginning and it’s probably a good thing for everyone involved, including Alejo, that Spurs get out from under it.