10 months ago
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Tottenham have reportedly rejected a £20million offer for Emerson Royal from Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr.
When everyone is fit, Royal is not in Ange Postecoglou’s best starting XI, with Pedro Porro firmly ahead of him in the pecking order.
Nevertheless, the right-back has proven himself to be a very useful player in the Spurs squad, often filling in at centre-back when Cristian Romero and/or Micky van de Ven are not available.
The Brazil international has made 18 appearances across all competitions so far this season, nine of them starts, with his efforts helping Spurs mount an unlikely title challenge.
As it stands, the club are fifth in the table, eight points behind leaders Liverpool, but only three off Manchester City, Aston Villa and Arsenal.
As such, Tottenham are very happy with the 25-year-old and are not interested in selling him, with talkSPORT reporting that they have rejected a £20m bid from Al-Nassr.
Given how they have suffered with defensive injuries this season, with Ben Davies the latest to end up in the treatment room, Spurs do not want to lose such a useful player.
Al-Nassr, whose squad includes the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Aymeric Laporte, Marcelo Brozovic and Alex Telles, are keen on Royal and now weighing up whether to make an improved offer.
Royal, whose contract expires in 2026, moved to north London in 2021 from Barcelona in a deal worth £25m and has made 95 appearances for the Lilywhites to date.
The defender is reportedly happy at Tottenham and it remains to be seen how many players are still interested in joining the Saudi Pro League given how several who did make the move are now trying to or already have returned to Europe.
This includes Jordan Henderson, who has signed for Ajax just six months after leaving Liverpool for Al-Ettifaq, as well as Karim Benzema who is keen to leave Al-Ittihad.
Laporte even recently suggested that many players are not happy with the playing conditions and life in Saudi Arabia.
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