Sandro Raniere Guimarães Cordeiro or simply Sandro (born 15 March 1989) is a Brazilian international defensive midfielder, who plays for Tottenham Hotspur. He joined English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur at the end of Internacional's victorious 2010 Copa Libertadores campaign in September, 2010.
Sandro is a product of Internacional's youth academy. He signed his first professional contract and began his senior career in 2007 as an 18 year old. He has been described as a defensive midfielder who gets forward.
Sandro is a product of Internacional's youth academy. He signed his first professional contract and began his senior career in 2007 as an 18 year old. He has been described as a defensive midfielder who gets forward.
Sandro was one of the main players of Inter's winning 2010 Copa Libertadores campaign. Sandro was already signed to Tottenham through most of the competition, but that did not affect his performance negatively: on the contrary, he said he "live[d] with great intensity, as each game could be the last". With this in mind, he worked hard to stay in Internacional as long as possible in order to help the team reach the finals. After winning South America's top trophy, he flew to England the following week.
On 30 August 2009, Tottenham Hotspur were reported to have had a £14 million bid rejected for the player. However, on 20 October 2009, Spurs and Internacional agreed an affiliation of the two clubs, ensuring that Tottenham have first option on all academy players from the Brazilian outfit. Following this agreement, there were rumours of a near-concluded deal pending for the 2009–10 Premier League January transfer window. Six days later, on 26 October 2009, Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp confirmed he was interested in Sandro, for a fee rumoured to be around £8 million.
On 10 March 2010, Internacional President Vitorio Piffero confirmed the transfer of the midfielder to Tottenham, after the Copa Libertadores. The transfer amount was speculated to be around €10 million, with only the contract yet to be signed.
On 23 March 2010, both Internacional and Tottenham announced on their respective websites that a deal had been agreed for Sandro for an undisclosed fee. It was also announced Sandro would join Tottenham following the end of the Copa Libertadores, which finishes on 18 August, subject to the player passing a medical.
