According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Villarreal have now entered the race to sign Emerson Royal ahead of the summer transfer window.
Emerson has been widely tipped to leave Tottenham this summer and over the last week, plenty of Italian outlets have talked up the possibility of the right-back ending up at AC Milan this summer.
Emerson Royal is a man in demand this summer
This includes an update on Gazzetta Dello Sport on Wednesday, which suggested that the Brazilian is ready to swap the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the San Siro.
The report explained that it was now a matter of the two clubs agreeing a fee, suggesting that the Serie A side’s pursuit of the 25-year-old had been boosted after Spurs decided to drop their asking price from €30m (£25.5m) to €20m (£17m).
Villarreal and AC Milan both want Emerson Royal
Di Marzio has now suggested that Milan now have competition to contend with for Emerson’s signature from Villarreal.
The Yellow Submarine are thought to be ready to offer the former Real Betis star a route back to La Liga.
However, the journalist asserts that as things stand, the Tottenham defender continues to prefer a switch to the Rossoneri over the La Liga side.
Spurs Web Opinion
One would expect Emerson to be a wanted man across Italy and Spain and I would not be surprised if more clubs enter the race for the right-back’s signature over the coming weeks. That is why Tottenham might not be in a hurry to finalise an agreement with Milan over the 25-year-old.
The Brazilian needs to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer in order to play regularly with Pedro Porro clearly first choice.
Postecoglou’s style of play does not suit the former Barcelona player, we have seen time and time again him struggle especially in attacking areas with his distribution.
If Tottenham can recoup anywhere near the £17m-mark to reinvest into other players more suited to the inverted full-back role, it will be a good piece of business to see him head to Italy or Spain this summer.