Tottenham Hotspur needed a right-back this past summer.
In fact, Tottenham had needed one since the summer of 2017, when they sold Kyle Walker to Manchester City.
Spurs have had a lot of replacements for Walker but not a single one of them – Kieran Trippier, Serge Aurier, Matt Doherty – looked anywhere near the City defender in terms of quality.
Under Nuno Espirito Santo, the Lilywhites signed Emerson Royal and, well, let’s just say the jury is still out on the Brazilian who, at the moment, is also nowhere near Walker’s level.
Another player Tottenham tried to sign is Takehiro Tomiyasu, who wound up joining Arsenal in a £20 million deal.
Since moving to North London, the Japan international has been immense, but he isn’t the most popular figure among Tottenham supporters after admitting that he rejected a transfer to them.
Tomiyasu had his name sung at the Emirates Stadium last night in helping his outfit secure a 2-0 victory over West Ham United.
There’s no doubt that he is looking a better, stronger and more consistent player than Emerson at Tottenham and, really, Fabio Paratici and Nuno missed out on a potential star.
Here is what Kevin Campbell said about him on Stadium Astro after the game: “He’s been brilliant. This young man, not many people knew him, but the crowd have really taken to him. He’s tough, aggressive and he loves the club.”
Emerson’s potential
It would be foolish to write off Emerson, though.
As mentioned, Tomiyasu has certainly outshone him since both moved to the Premier League, at around the same time.
But lest we forget that from here on in, the Tottenham defender will be working under one of football’s most elite coaches in the form of Antonio Conte.
Mikel Arteta is a decent coach, but he’s nowhere near as accomplished or experienced as the new Lilywhites manager and there’s no telling what sort of improvements the South American could make under the Italian.
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