Tottenham Hotspur have offered experienced left back Danny Rose to Spanish champions Barcelona, according to Sport.
The Spanish publication claims that Mauricio Pochettino’s side have given the European heavyweights the opportunity to purchase the England international this summer.
Rose, who has made 198 appearances for Spurs [Source: Transfermarkt], is being lined up for a Tottenham Hotspur Stadium exit, having been left off the team’s pre season tour of Asia.
However, he seemingly won’t be making a switch to the Nou Camp. Ernesto Valverde’s team are said to have considered the possibility of signing the 29-year-old for several days before deciding against it.
Likely to happen?
It doesn’t appear as if this particular move is going to happen, no. Barca have seemingly decided that they can live without the Englishman, although Sport’s report states that their reluctance to bring him in was more down to economic reasons than sporting ones.
However, an exit away from north London does appear inevitable for Rose. There was talk of him leaving the club a year ago, and now that speculation has intensified even further. The club’s decision to leave him off their tour squad would appear to effectively be a death sentence for his Tottenham career.
TiF Tactics – Do Spurs have enough strength in depth to cope without Rose?
This is the big question from a Spurs perspective, and will obviously be something Pochettino considered before agreeing to leave the player off the tour.
We all know that Rose is a gifted player offensively, but ultimately defending is his primary purpose on the pitch. However, it’s an area where he falls down compared to his competition at Tottenham.
As per WhoScored.com, the only major statistical category where the 29-year-old beats his competition is the number of interceptions he completes per game. Other than that, it was largely teammate Ben Davies who ruled the roost from a defensive point of view last season.
If Pochettino elects not to bring in another left back to replace Rose this summer, then that would likely mean that young right back Kyle Walker-Peters would be called upon to cover for Davies on the opposite flank when needed.
Judging from the above statistics, he would appear to be an adequate solution as a number two behind Davies. While improvement is still needed, the fact that he commits the fewest fouls and is dribbled past the least out of the trio is a good place to start.
It would appear, then, that Spurs should just have enough to cope without Rose if he does depart this summer, although having Waker-Peters cover both flanks probably isn’t a viable long-term solution.