According to Matteo Moretto, AC Milan are waiting for Paulo Fonseca to take over as manager before deciding whether to push ahead with a move for Emerson Royal.
Over the last couple of weeks, it has been widely reported that Emerson’s three-year spell at Tottenham is expected to come to an end this summer, with Milan credited with a keen interest in the right-back (Football Insider).
On Monday, Gianluca Di Marzio revealed that the Spurs star’s agent had flown to Italy to meet with the Milan hierarchy to discuss a potential move.
However, Di Marzio explained that it was only an ‘exploratory’ meeting and that the move is not close to being agreed at the moment.
Milan waiting on new manager before Emerson bid
Moretto has now explained that the Serie A club are waiting for Fonseca to depart Lille and replace Stefano Pioli in the hot seat so that they can finalise their decision.
He reveals that Lille’s Tiago Santos is another right-back on the Rossoneri’s radar and that Fonesca might prefer to reunite with the Portuguese star at San Siro.
The journalist adds that while Tottenham are willing to sell Emerson for €15m-€20m (£12.7m-£17m), Santos is expected to be a little cheaper.
Moretto told CaughtOffside’s Daily Briefing: “Milan have to sign a right-back, they have a shortlist with various names on it. On that list is Emerson Royal, who can leave Tottenham Hotspur for €15-20m this summer, and Tiago Santos of Lille is also on that list.
“He can leave the Ligue 1 side for a little less than Emerson. Clearly, the fact that Paulo Fonseca will be the Milan manager could have an impact on the decision. As things stand, we have to see if Milan make a definitive call to go for one of the two, but those two are on the shortlist.”
Spurs Web Opinion
At Spurs Web, we expect Tottenham to demand much more than £15m for Emerson. The Brazilian is likely to generate plenty of interest and Spurs would want to make back the bulk of the fee they paid to sign the defender three years ago.
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