Why Tottenham are making the right choice by letting Walker-Peters leave
According to the Daily Mail, Tottenham Hotspur defender Kyle Walker-Peters will move to Southampton in a deal worth £12m.
The 23-year-old right-back spent the second half of 2019-20 season on loan with Southampton, after falling out of favour with new boss Jose Mourinho. After a slow start to life at St. Mary’s, Walker-Peters went on to become the side’s first-choice right-back under Ralph Hasenhuttl.
The young full-back impressed in his 10 Premier League appearances in which he helped Southampton to keep three clean sheets. In the process, he has prompted Southampton to consider securing his services permanently ahead of next season.
Prior to his move to the Saints, Walker-Peters had struggled for game time Tottenham, having made just five appearances across all competitions. With the arrival of Mourinho, he found himself warming the benches most of the time, eventually being shipped off to Southampton in order to get more playing time.
Walker-Peters clearly an unwanted man at Tottenham
Meanwhile, Tottenham under Mourinho managed to finish sixth in the league and secure a Europa League spot despite their struggles initially in the season. One of the main reasons for Tottenham’s slip in rankings has been an inconsistent and weak defence that conceded 47 goals in their 38 league matches.
One of the major problem areas in defence for Mourinho this season has been the right-back role, which was occupied mostly by Serge Aurier. Despite Aurier’s inconsistency throughout the season, the Portuguese boss stuck with him, that saw opportunities getting increasingly limited for Walker-Peters.
Apart from Aurier and Walker-Peters, Tottenham lack depth in their right-back position. However, this was not a concern for Mourinho as he chose to send young Walker-Peters on loan, suggesting that he was clearly not one of his favourites. That said, it seems like Walker-Peters would be an unwanted man at Tottenham as long as Mourinho remains the boss.
Though he made his senior team debut three years ago, Walker-Peters has till now managed to make only 24 appearances for Spurs, indicating that he hasn’t been able to establish himself at the first-team level in North London.
Hence, it would be better for Tottenham to let go of him as it would allow them to cash in on a player that clearly isn’t in the manager’s plans. It would also offer Walker-Peters more game time rather than being kept on the bench at Spurs. It is a clear win-win situation for both the parties and Tottenham have made the right decision by letting him go.
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Verdict
Though Tottenham have a dearth of players in the right-back role, keeping Walker-Peters with the side is only a waste of time and money. They can rather sell him and use this money to strengthen areas that need improvement.
