Chelsea could “hijack” Tottenham’s move for Sporting Lisbon wingback Pedro Porro, according to CBS Sports reporter Ben Jacobs.

Spurs have been told they will have to pay the Spanish international’s €45m (£40m) release clause but Jacobs claims that the Blues may steal a march on their London rivals if they hesitate in matching Sporting’s demands:

“At the moment intermediaries are heavily involved in this one. Initial talks have taken place. Tottenham are trying to understand if this public stance of release clause only is genuine or not, and if it is, they will need to determine if they want to trigger the clause. The other thing to watch, we’ll hear this a lot, and it’s to be taken with a pinch of salt. A hijack from Chelsea is very possible. Where Tottenham are perhaps 50/50 on whether it’s worth paying the release clause, Chelsea may be a bit more bullish because they’re looking for big movement.”

Chelsea are said to be very keen on signing a backup for Reece James before the January window closes. Up until now, though, Inter Milan’s Denzel Dumfries and Celtic’s Josip Juranovic have been the two likeliest candidates to be recruited.

However, it appears that Porro has also come under consideration. The 23-year-old only joined Sporting on a permanent basis from Manchester City for £7.2m back in May but they are now looking for a sixfold return on their investment.

At the moment, a bid for the right-back has not been lodged but that could well change in the coming days.