Sandro left Brazil on a high, helping the club win the Libertadores Cup, making them the champions of South America. Despite having only two full seasons under his belt, the 21-year-old is already a Brazilian international, after making his debut as a substitute in his country's World Cup qualifier against Chile last September.
Sandro is well aware that despite the fact he has won South America's biggest competition, he will be starting from the bottom at Spurs. The young holding midfielder will face a battle to get into the first team with Tom Huddlestone, Wilson Palacios, Jamie O'Hara and Jermaine Jenas all competing for a starting spot. With Spurs vying for silverware on four fronts this season, Harry Redknapp will need numbers in midfield if he wants to maintain a concerted challenge on all fronts. The Betfair Football odds suggest we have a chance of winning something this season.
On top of this, it has been reported that Jermaine Jenas has been attracting interest and it looks like he could miss out when Redknapp names his 25-man Premier League squad for the season. The Spurs manager has already confirmed Sandro will be included.
Our young Brazilian certainly looks to have promise, especially as he graduated from the Internacional youth set up in 2008 making his debut in the first team. The following year Sandro was chosen to captain Brazil's under-20 side as they won the South American Championship. As he became a regular in his club's first team, his reputation grew and his full international debut followed. During his time with Internacional, Sandro made 99 appearances, scoring four goals. He narrowly missed out on being selected for his country's World Cup campaign and instead was named as one of seven back up players.
However, his international career looks set to continue after new Brazil coach, Mano Menezes, named Sandro as one of the 22-man squad of Europe-based players who will take part in a six day training camp in Barcelona.
As Spurs fans, we will understandably be excited to see our new, highly-rated midfielder, who has been likened to former Spurs hero Edgar Davids, who spent two successful seasons with us at White Hart Lane from 2005 to 2007.
Thing is, the lad is going to need a time to settle, learn the language, get used to the weather, his team-mates and the Premier League. If we do see him in action this year, I'll be surprised, but it will also mean that Harry and his backroom staff would have been impressed with him.
Meanwhile, the Wigan betting suggests we should pick up another three points when we meet the Latics next weekend.
The north-west side have already collapsed to two heavy defeats this season and a repeat of the 9-1 win from last term could be on the cards, although I can't see another score line like that for a long time.
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