Tottenham Hotspur defender Emerson Royal ‘is not particularly keen’ to leave the club in a January transfer. But he is earning interest from sides in Spain and Italy in a possible move.
That is according to football.london, which reports teams from Europe are exploring a deal to sign Royal this month. No club has yet made Tottenham a firm offer for the right-back in the winter market. Sides in Spain and Italy would also prefer to strike a loan-to-buy swoop.
It was only 17 months ago that Tottenham secured Royal’s transfer from Barcelona during Nuno Espirito Santo’s brief tenure. He also penned a five-year contract worth £62k-a-week to move to north London. But the 23-year-old has failed to impress over a consistent spell.
Antonio Conte has shown infrequent faith in Emerson since replacing Nuno at the helm in November 2021. The Italian currently favours Matt Doherty as his right-wing-back option. But he has started Royal for 16 of his 21 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
Yet Royal failing to lock down the starting role has left Tottenham to consider his transfer. Inter Live reports the Brazilian has failed to impress Conte so much so that Fabio Paratici is exploring replacements. Spurs would also only demand €25m (£22m) to sell their full-back.
Real Betis could target Royal’s return but in a loan transfer from Tottenham
Tottenham paid Barcelona £26m for Royal in August 2021, which The Telegraph noted the Blaugrana still could not believe Spurs had offered months later. Now, Paratici may cut the north London club’s losses. But he will have to convince the Sao Paulo native to leave, too.
One avenue for Royal could be to return to Real Betis, where he played from 2019 to 2021 before Barcelona triggered an £8m option. Rudy Galetti reports the La Liga outfit are open to signing the full-back on loan from Tottenham if they clear a space in the January market.
Barcelona had an option to purchase Royal from Real Betis having struck a joint deal for his arrival in Spain from Atletico Mineiro. Yet he soon left Camp Nou to complete a transfer to Tottenham, where Royal’s defensive susceptibility has earned staunch criticism ever since.
“Emerson Royal is one of the worst right-backs I have seen at Spurs in a long time,” former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara stated on talkSPORT (09:39, 14/11/22).
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