Who would’ve thought the Tottenham Hotspur Summer Transfer Saga™ would be Emerson Royal to AC Milan?
After Dustin wrote late last week about Spurs’ rejection of AC Milan’s “formal bid”, more details have emerged courtesy of Alasdair Gold of Football London and Nizaar Kinsella of the BBC - so here they are for your reading (dis)pleasure.
Dustin talked about brinkmanship and negotiation through the media. It’s not uncommon to see sides take a pretty hard public stance around the transfer fee for a player, and in the same vein, often those sides find some sort of compromise somewhere in the middle. Spurs have been firm on their asking price of €20 million for Royal, and honestly, it feels like a reasonable ask. It’s already down from their initial reported asking price of €25 million, so it’s not like Spurs haven’t shown some willingness to negotiate.
And that’s where Milan come in. A figure of €15 million had been rumored as an opening bid, and that’s a difference with which you can work to find common ground; but Gold and Kinsella are reporting Milan’s official bid was €10 million, half of Tottenham’s asking price. For those passionate about the King’s currency, that’s a paltry £8.5 million.
That’s ridiculous.
It wouldn’t have surprised me if the faxed offer (you just know they faxed it) was used as a dartboard, or perhaps even toilet paper in the Tottenham Hotspur headquarters; or maybe Daniel Levy used it to wipe away his tears of laughter? Who can say. Clubs on the continent are struggling financially, but Milan are a team who just finished second in Serie A, won the competition just a few seasons ago, and are in the Champions League next season. They can afford to shell out a bit more cash.
The kicker here is that reportedly contact has gone completely quiet between the two clubs. This could be Milan pulling out of the deal - they have been linked to other potential right back candidates - but more likely they are going full method on their bluff, which I wouldn’t be surprised if Levy & Lange call. There’s been recent rumored interest from Saudi clubs, and even if Royal stayed, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world: he is able to provide cover in multiple positions (which Spurs sorely needed last season), the club are playing in Europe which means more fixtures, and it may take pressure off the likes of young Archie Gray, allowing him to more naturally ease into the side if (God forbid) Pedro Porro were to get injured.
Maybe this is the last we see of Milan. I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t.