Danny Rose has been voted into the PFA team of the year in the last two seasons and is widely considered the best left-back in England. Rose has also cemented his place as the England’s starting left-back since Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival, having never been capped previously. Rose has had a lengthy injury lay off and has not featured for Tottenham since January.
He is rumoured to be close to a return, with an away fixture against Real Madrid in the Champions League being touted as a potential return date. Whether Rose will walk back into the side remains to be seen following the excellent form of his understudy, Ben Davies, and also the controversy following his notorious interview with the Sun.
Danny Rose Faces Fight With Ben Davies to Reclaim Place
Danny Rose and The Sun
One week before the start of the Premier League season Danny Rose decided that it would be a good idea to arrange an interview with a reporter from The Sun. During the interview, Rose bemoaned his lack of wages compared to other Premier League stars. He also said he hopes to move to a northern club before he retires. He stated he would like to be closer to his family as the reason for this, and the two Manchester clubs seem the most obvious destinations.
Rose stopped short of calling for a transfer from the club. However, the interview certainly hit a nerve with a lot of supporters and Rose quickly went from hero to zero. As well as the wage and transfer talk, he also stated that he feels manager Pochettino receives too much credit for his development. He stated in the interview “I was already a great player before he came”. White Hart Lane was full with 35,000 people every week who would disagree with the left-back’s comments. He progressed leaps and bounds following the Argentine’s appointment with many Tottenham players giving him the nickname “the Gaffer’s son”.
This fact was also not forgotten by Rose, who mentioned his annoyance at his perceived signalling out by fans. It appears that he holds a grudge towards the fans for their lack of faith and also abuse on social media which lead to the deactivation of his Twitter account. The lack of faith and abuse he received appears to be why he doesn’t appear to be as loyal to the club as many believed he was.
The Excellent Form of Ben Davies
Ben Davies has always been a decent full back. Defensively he is solid and debatably better than his English counterpart in that aspect. Since arriving from Swansea, the Welshman has been used primarily as an understudy. When Rose was injured many were worried Davies wasn’t offensively good enough to play as a wing back. For a lot of last season Davies was not up to the standard in that department. It left many people worried at how this season would pan out.
This season Davies has unquestionably been up there with Kane and Eriksen as one of Tottenham’s best players. In the first six premier league games, Davies has contributed two goals and two assists. In comparison, he contributed one goal and three assists in 23 games last season. These stats show a massive improvement and gives Pochettino the envious dilemma. Does he play the best left-back in the Premier League last season or the Premier League’s best left-back so far this season?
Keep or Sell?
If Rose is not happy at Tottenham there is very little point in forcing him to stay. At 27-years old the club could easily fetch a fee in the same region as the £50m they received from Manchester City for fellow full-back Kyle Walker.
Ryan Sessegnon has been a long-term target for the club. The 17-year old is among the brightest prospects in Britain and could be the long term replacement of Rose. Tottenham also have an ongoing interest in Manchester United winger Anthony Martial. His club has a reported interest in Danny Rose and Pochettino is said to be a huge admirer of the Frenchman. A swap deal of some description could solve two problems for both clubs. This is especially as Martial is not a regular starter under Jose Mourinho.
That being said, Danny Rose is still an excellent player. If his head is in the right place the club would hope to keep him during his prime years. The idea of selling Rose last year would have been a doomsday scenario for Tottenham. However, following the form of Ben Davies and several players of interest potentially within the clubs reach, then the sale may not be as bad as initially feared.
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