OPINION
By all accounts, Kieran Trippier has had a pretty shocking season for Tottenham.
The full-back was the toast of the nation a little under 12 months ago, when his heroic performances for the Three Lions in Russia, not to mention a remarkable free kick in the semi-final, made him one of the hottest properties in the English game.
Since he has come back to Spurs, however, he has struggled to recapture that scintillating form, and has looked like a shadow of his former self through this campaign.
Many Spurs fans will surely have been delighted to hear, therefore, that Napoli were on the cusp of snapping him up this summer, as reported by the Independent.
Given his poor form this term, cashing in on the £65,000-a-week full-back [Spotrac] and reinvesting it in a suitable replacement seems like a prudent plan of action.
But it would appear that there could be a spanner thrown in the works in the shape of Liverpool ace Nathaniel Clyne.
The defender has spent the second half of this season out on loan at Bournemouth, and it is understood, as reported by Goal, that Napoli have made an approach to take him to Italy next season.
With just one year left on his contract, and with the Reds valuing him at around £15 million, he would represent a cheaper option than Trippier, and if they Serie A side are in the market for one English right-back this summer, you fear that they might choose to go with the one that isn’t going to break the bank.
For Tottenham fans, that will be disappointing, and they will just be hoping that they can still find a way of offloading Trippier this window.