Tottenham are reportedly in talks to complete the signing of a new right-back in the wake of Emerson Royal’s exit for AC Milan, with the structure of their offer potentially key to getting a deal done – but comments from Ange Postecoglou have suggested a different solution.
Of the options that were available to Postecoglou at right-back last season, Pedro Porro is the only one that remains at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Emerson was recently sold to Milan, which potentially opens up a vacancy for a new signing to replace him.
On that front, Tottenham were recently tipped to replace a Brazilian with a Brazilian by moving for Monaco’s Vanderson – and more recent updates imply they are preparing an offer for the 23-year-old.
According to Bruno Andrade, Tottenham are preparing an opening offer of €32m (£27.3m) for Vanderson after opening talks with his current employers, who have him under contract until 2028 thanks to an extension they agreed back in February.
While Spurs are willing to pay more to sign Vanderson than what they received for Emerson, it still might not be enough to tempt Monaco, whose asking price is €40m (£34.1m).
Nevertheless, Andrade claims Tottenham’s offer will contain performance-based add-ons. That said, it hasn’t been clarified if those add-ons would take the bid up to the €40m mark or not.
Besides, sources closer to the Premier League club suggested the original news of Tottenham’s interest in Vanderson – also broken by Andrade – was being driven by agents, so it’s interesting to see rumours of developments in the saga.
Furthermore, Tottenham could already have other solutions at their disposal that Postecoglou couldn’t rely on last season.
Postecoglou opens door for existing Tottenham man
For example, new signing Archie Gray is naturally a central midfielder but often operated at right-back for Leeds United in 2023-24.
It is another former Leeds full-back, though, that Postecoglou has offered a somewhat-unexpected second chance to, with the Tottenham boss recently opening the door for Djed Spence to make a comeback.
Spence signed for Tottenham in 2022, but has struggled to convince his managers and has spent time on loan at Rennes, Leeds and, most recently, Genoa.
Talks for a permanent move to Genoa collapsed and Postecoglou has now presented Spence with the opportunity of making amends in north London.
Postecoglou said: “It’s one of those things that when you start pre-season, we had quite a few guys who were out on loan last year. Part of me is saying, OK, we need to keep evolving this squad. The guys go out on loan for a reason.
“Have they come back [and now] are they a better fit, are they part of what we’re doing?
“With Djed, I had an open mind. I certainly think the kind of characteristics he has would fit into our football. It’s then more about, OK, well he obviously didn’t fit last year, will he fit this year?
“He’s had a good pre-season. He’s trained really well. He seems to have fit into the group really well.”
Spence has previously been questioned for alleged attitude issues, which Postecoglou himself has not yet seen evidence of being accurate.
The manager rebutted: “You would know about it if it was. He wouldn’t be part of it if it was. But that’s probably something that, whether that was right or wrong, as a person and as a player, Djed has taken responsibility for that and not allowed that to be part of the conversation this pre-season.
“For me and all the coaches, we’ve had absolutely zero issues with his attitude. He’s trained really well, he’s fit into the group really well. That’s on him. He’s the one who hasn’t allowed it to become an issue.”
How Spence might play for Spurs this season
And with Tottenham back in Europe this season, starting out in the league phase of the Europa League, Postecoglou has hinted Spence could become a useful rotation option on either flank of the defence – but primarily his natural right-hand side.
The Australian tactician explained: “I don’t think left-back is his obvious position, I think he’s more of a right full-back, but the fact that he can play out on the left, again gives us some good options into the season where with European football we’re going to have more challenges.
“It was quite obvious last year that whenever we had disruptions in terms of injuries or suspensions, our performance dropped a fair bit. We’re trying to narrow that gap.
“Hopefully having Djed as part of our squad allows us to do that. He’s training well, he’s available for Monday and I’ll make those decisions at the weekend.”
Monday’s season opener for Tottenham, which Postecoglou was speaking in view of, will be against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.