Tottenham Hotspur could still be open to selling Emerson Royal this summer if the right bid arrives in the coming weeks.
This has been suggested by reliable Spurs journalist Alasdair Gold, who has been speaking on his YouTube channel about the Brazilian right-back following the Spurs’ victory in the Premier League at the weekend.
Emerson started the game on Saturday in N17 after getting the nod ahead of both Matt Doherty and Djed Spence and was not replaced until the 86th minute.
And the 23-year-old certainly put in an impressive shift, with an assist for Dejan Kulusevski as well as providing the cross for Mohammed Salisu’s own goal.
However, Gold still believes it could be Emerson who departs out of the current crop of right wing-backs, having spoken to Antonio Conte last week before the game.
He said: “It’s interesting. There’s a part of me that still feels that if Spurs were to get a good bid for him, they might accept it. Whether he would want to move or not, I don’t know.
“If you’re in a world where it meant nothing how big your squad was, I still think as a squad player, he’s a very good option.
“Even talking when I asked about the right-backs on Thursday in the press conference before the match – may be reading too much into it, but Conte spoke about Doherty, he spoke about Spence and then he spoke about Emerson at the end.”
TIF Thoughts on Gold’s comments…
Emerson has certainly been linked with a departure this summer, with reports suggesting a return to La Liga could be on the cards for the former Barcelona man.
Should Spurs sell Emerson Royal in the coming weeks?
Yes
No
Gold still believes Doherty did not start on the weekend as he has not fully returned to full fitness ahead of the new campaign, while Spence has had minimal involvement over pre-season, having joined during the club’s South Korea tour.
Spurs wanted strength in depth ahead of this season and now it seems they may have a little too much at right wing-back, and having failed to show an attacking threat on the whole, perhaps Emerson will be the one to depart in the coming weeks.
Interestingly, the Brazilian was the joint second-best performer for Spurs at the weekend (as per SofaScore), so perhaps he’s been able to work his way back into Conte’s plans a bit more.