During the January transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur wanted to address the wing-back situation on the north London squad. Spurs were hoping to land Adama Traoré from Wolverhampton Wanderers to convert him to a wing-back but failed to close the deal.
Against Manchester United this weekend, Tottenham had Matt Doherty and Sergio Reguilón as their wing-backs. Both didn’t generate much offensively from the position; as a result, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville stated Spurs need to improve this position in manager Antonio Conte’s system.
“I think to play that system, you have to have good wing-backs in it, and I think Reguilon and Doherty, the quality is not there in both sides of their game, defensively and going forward. I think if they had better wing-backs, they’d be doing a lot, lot better,” Neville said on Sky Sports (via Spurs-Web)
Tottenham does have other options at the position like Emerson Royal and Ryan Sessegnon. Royal hasn’t exactly worked out as a signing, failing to impress in his first season with the Premier League club.
Sessegnon has improved, gaining more minutes, but he’s 21-years-old, and if Conte could find an upgrade that could give him consistency, he might take it. Heading into the summer, it’s likely improving both wing-back positions will be at the top of their to-do list.