Tottenham Hotspur have made headlines with the signing of Dominic Solanke but have also seen Emerson Royal leave the club.
One thing was absolutely sure about Tottenham Hotspur this summer; they simply had to invest in a new centre forward.
A year since Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich, Tottenham have now completed the signing of Dominic Solanke.
Solanke arrives from Bournemouth after scoring 19 Premier League goals last season and Spurs will be looking for a big impact in the final third.
Arrivals make the headlines and generate the excitement, but the reality of the transfer window is that Tottenham also needed to move some players on.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has joined Marseille and Tottenham have now allowed Emerson Royal to move on as well.
Ange Postecoglou on Emerson Royal
Right back Emerson arrived from Barcelona back in the summer of 2021 as Nuno Espirito Santo pushed for a back four.
Nuno was gone just a few months later though and Emerson has just never really found his true role at Tottenham.
Playing at wing back under Antonio Conte didn’t fit and neither did an inverted right back role under Ange Postecoglou.
Emerson has now joined AC Milan, finalising a move away from Tottenham in a deal worth around £13million.
The Brazilian will hope to nail down a first-team role at the San Siro and Postecoglou has offered his reaction.
Speaking to Football London, Postecoglou praised Emerson as a ‘great pro’ and a ‘really popular’ player in the Spurs squad.
Postecoglou even noted that Emerson was the ‘hardest worker’ in Tottenham training and gave his all for the Spurs cause.
Postecoglou just feels that Tottenham need to move on and allow Emerson to play regularly elsewhere, believing that he has made a ‘fantastic move’.
“Yeah, Emi super guy, great pro again,” said Postecoglou. “It is one of those decisions you have to make when you are trying to change squads. Really popular amongst the group and not just because he is a great guy. He didn’t play a lot last year in his preferred position, but you wouldn’t know it the way he trained every day.”
“He is the hardest worker at training and really top guy. He is a guy you would want to spend time with. A big heart, loved by all and I think it is a fantastic move for him. He will love Milan, it is a big club he has gone to and it is one of those things that happen in football where it is not really an aspersion on him that he is not part of this. It is just other things aligned. I think it is a win for him and it allows us to continue rebuilding the squad in the way we want,” he added.
Tottenham Hotspur right back latest
Pedro Porro was Tottenham’s first-choice right back last season, meaning Emerson was stuck on the bench for much of the campaign.
The Spaniard will start this term as the top right back once again and he may have a point to prove after being overlooked by Spain at Euro 2024.
Emerson’s exit means Tottenham need somebody to step up as competition for Porro.
Djed Spence currently looks likely to stay at Tottenham and may have a chance to push for first-team action after loans at Rennes, Leeds and Genoa.
Tottenham have been linked with Monaco’s Vanderson too whilst HITC understands that Issa Kabore, Michael Kayode and Kyle Walker-Peters have been on the Spurs radar.
It currently looks like Tottenham will go with Spence but it remains to be seen just how Spurs decide to replace Emerson this season.
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