According to BBC Sport, Tottenham Hotspur are holding firm in negotiations and are in no mood to accept a cut-price deal to sanction an exit for versatile Brazilian defender Emerson Royal this summer amidst AC Milan interest.
Spurs signing Archie Gray from Leeds United in a last-minute swoop would have prompted one to believe that the North London club be more open to letting the ex-Barcelona man leave. Emerson’s exit has been in the works for quite some time now.
AC Milan however seem to have taken these negotiations for granted and were looking to snap up the Brazilian right-back for around £10m. However, unlike in other scenarios like Tanguy Ndombele (who Spurs let leave for free), the club is not desperate to get Emerson Royal off their books.
It has now emerged that the North London club don’t mind keeping the ex-Real Betis man as a part of their plans for next season if they cannot agree a deal with any interested club.
Putting the pressure back on AC Milan?
This has been a very clever negotiation manoeuvre from Daniel Levy & co. who seem to have gotten really intelligent in their transfer dealings in recent seasons. They have now firmly put the pressure back on the Italian giants to make a serious offer should they want to sign the 25-year-old.
Whilst having Emerson Royal in the squad is not a bad thing from a depth perspective, that doesn’t seem to be Spurs’ motive here. They just want to make a statement loud and clear that they are not going to get rolled over in any negotiations and that they will stand their ground until they receive a bid they deem acceptable.
At 25, the Brazilian full-back is yet to enter the prime years of his career and has shown constant improvement in every single season he has spent here in North London. Emerson also hired a personal trainer to help him work on his game in free time which clearly shows his motivation to keep improving.
£10m for such a player is basically cents on the dollar and AC Milan are clearly trying to lowball here. Kudos to Spurs to stand their ground and shift the narrative back to the Italian club. Ultimately though, it’s increasingly likely that this move will go through for a slightly higher fee and it will be a huge surprise to see Emerson Royal in a Tottenham jersey next season.
