Swansea City boss Garry Monk says Tottenham full back Kyle Naughton isn’t a target.
It’s been speculated for weeks that Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino would have a clearout at White Hart Lane, allowing many of the club’s fringe players to leave.
Reports earlier this season suggested that Pochettino was willing to let the likes of Vlad Chiriches, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Mousa Dembele, Paulinho and Aaron Lennon leave the club, but eight days into the transfer window, all of them remain with Spurs.
Yet on Wednesday night, reports broke that Swansea were closing in on a deal to sign right back Kyle Naughton for £4m as the Swans look to upgrade upon long-serving Angel Rangel.
Naughton, 26, has slipped behind Kyle Walker and new signing DeAndre Yedlin in the pecking order at right back, and is expected to leave North London this month.
However, Swansea manager Garry Monk spoke to press today ahead of his side’s game against West Ham United this weekend, and said that Naughton is not a target for the club and there has been no contact between the two sides.
If true, Naughton now finds himself in an interesting situation. With Spurs reportedly chasing Sporting Lisbon’s Miguel Lopes, it seems that Pochettino still wants depth at right back, but doesn’t see Naughton as the man to provide it.
Naughton has played at left back before, but Pochettino still has three players vying for that spot too, so it seems that every avenue into the first team for the former Sheffield United youngster has been blocked.
With this being the transfer window, Monk could well be trying to deflect attention away from a possible deal with Naughton in a bid to ensure other clubs don’t hijack them, so don’t be surprised if Naughton does end up in South Wales by the end of the month.
Whether it’s Swansea or not, it seems virtually assured that Naughton will be playing for someone other than Spurs come February.
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