Emerson Royal has completed his move from Spanish giants Barcelona to English club Tottenham Hotspur for a reported fee of €25 million as per multiple sports media outlets and publications in Europe.
Please welcome London’s newest Royal, @Emerson_Royal22! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/M9uwTrCV2B
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 31, 2021
The Brazilian had been bought by Barcelona themselves this very summer along with players such as Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia to Camp Nou, but the Catalans have decided to sell him to Tottenham as they already have enough depth at right-back
As the Brazilian completes his move to London from Barcelona, FootTheBall analyses the transfer, scrutinising it to make sense of the move for the 22-year old defender by Spurs.
PLAYER QUALITY
Emerson is a right-back who previously plied his trade at Real Betis for two seasons in Andalusia and was a regular starter for the Spanish club before being bought by Barcelona this summer for €6 million.
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The 22-year old is yet to play for an elite club in his football career, but a move to Tottenham Hotspur could open the gates for him as he rubs his shoulders alongside the creme de la creme of the beautiful game in England.
He was a starter with Real Betis in La Liga, even scoring a goal for the Andalusians, albeit in a heavy 1-5 loss to Villarreal. This prompted Barcelona to sign him this summer, but financial mismanagement and mounting debts meant that the Blaugrana have decided to bring the player off the books in Catalonia.
Now, Royal will travel to London to complete the switch from La Liga to the Premier League as he attempts to adapt to the relatively faster pace of the English top-flight in the British capital.
VALUE FOR MONEY
Barcelona had bought him from Real Betis for a reported fee of €6 million, but ended up receiving a decent €25 million (possibly) when selling him to Tottenham Hotspur.
Therefore, one can say that the Lilywhites might feel that they have been shortchanged in this transfer agreement, which is really uncharacteristic of Daniel Levy as he has the reputation of a person who haggles to extract the most out of any agreement.
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Fellow North London rivals Arsenal were also interested in signing the Brazilian international, but he chose Tottenham Hotspur as his next destination in England given that Barcelona already have significant back-up plans at right-back with players such as Sergi Roberto and Sergino Dest.
Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo is in need of a right-back urgently after having played Japhet Tanganga as Serge Aurier has fallen out of favour in North London apparently.
FIT AT THE CLUB
Emerson Royal will be expected to set the ball rolling as soon as he joins up with the Tottenham Hotspur group of players in London and will be expected to gradually play a significant part in the team’s matches in the Premier League.
The Lilywhites have not conceded even a single goal in three matches until now in the English top-flight and the arrival of Royal from Barcelona will further strengthen their squad at the back as fixtures with the other ‘Big Six’ sides approach later on in the season.
He will be expected to compete for minutes alongside Matt Doherty and Tanganga in the team set-up in North London and eventually become one of the starters for Nuno Espirito Santo.
EXPECTATIONS
Emerson Royal is being bought by Daniel Levy with a long-term perspective as the defender is still only 22 years old and has at least 10 more years to play at the highest level of the English football pyramid with Spurs.
Serge Aurier is already out of favour with Nuno Espirito Santo and Emerson Royal has been brought to London to become the understudy to Matt Doherty possibly over the course of the next few seasons in the Premier League.
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Royal has already proved that he can compete at the highest level in Spain by featuring regularly for Real Betis, but is he up to the challenge that the Premier League brings to him in this new chapter of his career.
Only time will tell how he fares in the English top-flight, but one thing is certain this season – that Nuno Espirito Santo has probably the most exciting squad in the Premier League who can upset the odds on any given day in England.
Currently, they sit atop the Premier League table and are the only side to preserve a 100% record in the English top-flight, but for how long this continues will be interesting to see.
