Speaking on The Obi One Podcast with former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, Villas-Boas said Porto went as far as it could in attempting to sign the former Nordsjælland player.
“We negotiated with Nordsjælland, and we went as far as we could to get him, but we had to stop, and he ended up going to Coventry City for £27 million plus bonuses,” Villas-Boas said.
The Porto president explained that the club were attracted by Yirenkyi’s potential and believed they could eventually develop him before selling him to a bigger Premier League side.
“He is a very talented player, and we had high expectations for his future,” he added.
“We wanted to bring him in, develop him and later probably transfer him to one of the big Premier League clubs, but we couldn’t.”
Villas-Boas believes the situation reflects a wider change in the transfer market, with clubs such as Porto increasingly competing directly with Premier League sides for young players.
Yirenkyi instead completed a move to Coventry and has made an immediate impact in England, starting all five of the club’s Premier League matches so far.
Villas-Boas’ comments provide an insight into how close Porto came to securing the midfielder before Coventry won the race for his signature.