Tottenham defender valued at under €20m and on AC Milan shortlist
Spurs paid €30 million for the player in August 2021.
Brazil international Emerson Royal could join AC Milan from Tottenham Hotspur this summer.
The 25-year-old is under contract with Spurs until June 2026 but is not seen as an important member of Ange Postecoglou’s first team.
As reported by Daily Briefing columnist Matteo Moretto via X.com on Tuesday, Milan are keen to sign a new right-back and Royal is on their list of leading candidates after being tracked by the Serie A side for several months.
According to Moretto, Royal’s valuation is slightly below €20 million.
That is significantly less than the €30m Spurs paid to sign Royal from Barcelona in August 2021 when Nuno Espirito Santo was in charge of the London club.
He was Tottenham’s first-choice right-back until Pedro Porro arrived from Sporting Lisbon in January last year.
Royal has made 13 starts for Spurs in all competitions this season but has been deployed in his preferred position of right-back in less than a third of those games.
He played as an emergency central defender during November and December when Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven were both unavailable.
More recently, Royal started at left-back in Tottenham’s losses to Chelsea and Liverpool after Destiny Udogie was ruled out for the rest of the season with a thigh injury.
But Postecoglou was unimpressed and opted to replace Royal with Oliver Skipp for last Saturday’s game against Burnley.
Despite beating Burnley 2-1 in that game, Spurs look set to miss out on a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
Meanwhile, Milan have already qualified for Europe’s top club competition courtesy of securing second place in Serie A.
If Royal moves to the San Siro this summer then he will not be the first footballer to play for both Spurs and Milan.
Jimmy Greaves was the first, later followed by Christian Ziege, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Edgar Davids, Carlo Cudicini and Adel Taarabt.
