The initial £2.7million (€3m) loan deal for Carlos Vinicius also includes a purchase option of £41m (€45m), though the amount paid for the loan will be deducted if exercised.

Tottenham have been desperate to sign a back-up for star Harry Kane, following previous links to Napoli's Arkadiusz Milik and Torino captain Andrea Belotti.

Jose Mourinho's Spurs have now turned to Brazilian Carlos Vinicius, who only joined Benfica from Serie A side Napoli last year.

Carlos Vinicius scored 18 goals in 32 Primeira Liga appearances last season, while he netted 22 in all competitions.

The 25-year-old ended the 2019-20 Primeira Liga campaign, which Benfica finished runners-up to rivals Porto, as the joint-top scorer along with team-mate Pizzi and Rio Ave's Mehdi Taremi.

Amid uncertainty over his future, Carlos Vinicius has only seen 18 minutes of league action this season, with head coach Jorge Jesus pairing Darwin Nunez and Luca Waldschmidt up front.

Tottenham qualified for the Europa League group stage with a 7-2 rout of Maccabi Haifa in London on Friday, while it is eighth in the Premier League and five points off the pace.

It is not the first time Tottenham have loaned a player from Benfica, after Gedson Fernandes joined Spurs on an 18-month deal in January.