Tottenham couldn't overcome last minute obstacles to land Porto midfielder Joao Moutinho last night.

The Daily Mail says Moutinho's move suffered a setback because of his £80,000-a-week salary in Portugal, which would have catapulted the 25-year-old midfielder into the top tier of Tottenham's pay scale.

This was overcome and negotiations continued into the night but the clubs hit another snag, thought to be connected to a third-party investor, who owns 15 per cent of the player's economic rights.

Moutinho joined Andre Villas-Boas at Porto two years ago when they paid £10m to Sporting Lisbon, who will receive 25 per cent of any profit from future sales.