It does not take Miss Marple to figure out that Antonio Conte is generally underwhelmed with his wing-back options, despite the captures of Djed Spence and Ivan Perisic in the summer, the availability of Matt Doherty and Emerson Royal on the right, and Ryan Sessegnon on the left. With left-sided Destiny Udogie also joining in the summer, one assumes that the position is sorted for the foreseeable.
Indeed, none of those wing-backs have been overly convincing this season. Doherty, who appeared to monopolise the right-sided birth last season, appears to be the shadow of the player he was after getting injured last April and neither Royal nor Sessegnon have kicked on since last season.
Moreover, despite Perisic’s impressive haul of 8 assists so far, his atrocious display at City highlighted his age and put questions around his overall utility to the team beyond his experience and crosses. Spence has clearly not impressed the coaching staff in training, and I would not be at all surprised to see him head out on loan, either now or in the summer.
The wing-back links we’ve been privy to of late have therefore hardly been surprising. Indeed, the Pedro Porro links have been incessant all winter, and with talk of Nicolo Zaniolo agreeing to join Spurs (a player who is able to play at wing-back, although not his preferred position), it seems that Conte is looking to upgrade this position further.
There has also been further talk of wing-back reinforcements this weekend – on top of the news that the club will push ahead with moves for Porro and Zaniolo this week, links with familiar target Adama Traore have cropped up again, as have those with Rennes’ young 21-year-old left wing-back Adrien Truffert. Beyond this weekend, there has been occasional talk of a move for Inter Milan’s Denzel Dumfries, but it appears that Porro is the number one target here.
With all these wing-backs linked, it is assumed that, on top of loaning out Spence, Spurs would need to shift one of R0yal and Doherty to make room for any incoming. With that, who would you want to see the club offload Spurs fans and why?
Or would you rather stick with Emerson and Doherty and reassess the situation in the summer? If not, who would you want to see the club go for? Should we cough up Porro’s release clause, or hold out for a cheaper version in Traore?
On the left, are we happy to stick with Sessegnon and the incoming Udogie? Or would you want the club to shift the Englishman and replace him with Rennes’ Truffert?
However, reports today have surfaced that Conte’s days in N17 are numbered, and that brings us to the question: if Conte is indeed off at the end of the season, is it worth pursuing wing-backs? It would appear not, but the club have yet to comment on this situation, so until then, debate away…
Have your say on Spurs’ wing-back situation on the Vital Spurs Fan Forum here.