PLAYER PROFILE

Miguel Pedro Mendes

Position: Midfield

Height: 5'11

Weight: 12st 4lbs

Date of Birth: 1979-02-26 Guimaraes, Portugal

Miguel Pedro Mendes

Pedro Mendes signed for Spurs during the summer transfer window in 2004, in a deal which saw misfit striker Helder Postiga return to Porto.

After helping Porto win the Portuguese League and the Champions League, the move was very sudden, although Mendes insisted he was looking forward to the challenge of the Premiership: "Now I'm anxious to start pre-season, to start training with my new team-mates and to get to know them. I'm really looking forward to the challenge."

Frank Arnesen said: "It is an excellent deal for us because Pedro gives us more options in midfield and brings with him experience in European competition. He has a well deserved reputation on the continent and we are delighted to have added him to our squad.

"I hope that the Spurs fans will take to him very quickly."

Take to him they did and it wasn't long before he was a firm favourite with the Spurs faithful following some great performances alongside Jamie Redknapp in the heart of midfield. He made 30 appearances and scored once in the 2004/05 season.

His time at White Hart Lane came to an end in January 2006 after a long spell out of the team and he moved to Portsmouth.

At Fratton Park, he helped Harry Redknapp's side stay up after seeming doomed earlier in the season.

This good form continued in the 2006/07 season, although his campaign will be remembered mostly for the incident at the City of Manchester Stadium when he was violently elbowed in the face by Ben Thatcher.