André Villas-Boas has reignited speculation Tottenham may make a January transfer window bid for Porto midfielder João Moutinho after he watched the Portuguese in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Moutinho started for Porto in their 2-1 loss at Paris Saint-Germain as the French side leapfrogged them to win Group A ahead of next week's round-of-16 draw.
Villas-Boas, who coached Porto to a triumphant and unbeaten league campaign in 2010-11 - as well as a Europa League win - made a £24m bid for the classy 26-year-old in the summer. However Spurs were unsuccessful in their deadline day efforts to sign Moutinho.
When questioned on his presence at the Parc des Princes ahead of Thursday night's Europa League tie with Panathinaikos Villas-Boas refused to comment on Moutinho directly.
“I went to see them [Porto] last season against Manchester City and took the opportunity to go and see them again against PSG," the Tottenham coach said.
“It was a tiring trip, but good to see people that are important to me.”
Tottenham are still light in midfield following Luka Modrić's sale to Real Madrid in the summer despite both Sandro and Mousa Dembélé excelling as a partnership.
Dembélé recently returned from a six-week absence when Spurs won only just two out of eight games with Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Huddlestone taking turns to deputise. However Tottenham have won three successive league matches since Dembélé regained his fitness.
Moutinho with Zlatan Ibrahimović on Tuesday night
Scott Parker is two weeks away from ending a five-month spell on the sidelines with an achilles injury but his fading legs are likely to minimise the effect he had on the squad between September and February last season.
Manchester United enquired about Moutinho's availability in the summer but are believed to have turned their attentions to PSV Eindhoven's Kevin Strootman.