Alan Shearer has suggested Emerson Royal has ‘room to grow’ at Tottenham, having failed to meet expectations since arriving at the club last summer.
Emerson secured a £26 million switch to Spurs from Barcelona ahead of the campaign (BBC Sport) but has struggled with the transition to English football.
He started as the club’s first-choice option at right wing-back under Antonio Conte but recently lost his place to Matt Doherty, who has made the position his own after a handful of strong performances.
But despite the Brazilian’s troubles so far, Shearer feels he has seen some moments to convince him there is enough room for improvement and he has a future at Spurs.
He told the Premier League: “Next a newcomer to the Premier League, Emerson Royal. There was a lot of excitement about his arrival amongst Spurs fans, and while I don’t think the young man has quite met expectations, he’s still offered his side a fair bit.
“Tall and imposing, Royal is decent in the air and has a habit of getting in the way when the opposition has the ball out wide. Going forward he has also shown promise, creating at least one chance per 90 minutes, putting him in the top 10 for full-backs in the league.
“He’s shown a few moments that have led me to believe he has room to grow as well.”
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Emerson’s last start in the Premier League came in Tottenham’s defeat to Burnley in February, while his last three appearances have come from the bench (Transfermarkt).
Spurs Web Opinion
Emerson has been very disappointing to say the least and it is hard to see how he has a future at the club going forward.
He is more comfortable as a right-back, but even then he hasn’t been convincing at all which won’t have impressed the higher powers at Spurs.
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