AC Milan have agreed a deal with Tottenham Hotspur for the signing of defender Emerson Royal.
An initial fee of €15million plus €3m in add-ons has been agreed, and while Royal has not yet officially signed, the deal is progressing.
He is set to sign a four year contract with the option of a further 12 months with the Serie A side.
The 25-year-old joined Tottenham from Barcelona in a deal worth £25.8million (now $33m) with add-ons of around £4.3m in the summer of 2021. Royal had spent the previous two and a half campaigns at Real Betis, before Barcelona exercised their buy-back option on the Brazilian.
Royal featured 79 times for Betis and three times for Barcelona before moving to Tottenham, where he made 101 appearances in three seasons. In 2023-24, Royal played 24 times for Spurs but made only 13 starts, predominately acting as a deputy to first-choice right-back Pedro Porro and occasionally filling in at left-back.
Spurs have also welcomed full-back Djed Spence back into their first-team squad following his loan spells at Leeds United and Genoa last season. Spence, 23, has featured regularly in pre-season and manager Ange Postecoglou said the Englishman has “impressed” upon his return, adding that his future was in his hands.
Royal, meanwhile, would become Milan’s fourth summer signing following the arrivals of striker Alvaro Morata, centre-back Strahinja Pavlovic and left-back Alex Jimenez. Paulo Fonseca’s side begin their Serie A campaign at home against Torino on August 17.
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