Much will be expected of Tottenham in the January transfer window once again after Fabio Paratici revolutionised the team at the start of 2022. Desperately needing some fresh blood in order to reverse their fortunes with the team struggling to string wins together, the managing director of football returned to his former club Juventus to strike deals for Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski.
The duo immediately helped raise the level at Tottenham and have continued to do so over the past year. Always going to be incredibly hard to top the signings going on the success of both deals, Paratici has a big job on his hands in 2023 as he looks to improve Antonio Conte's Tottenham squad.
One area Spurs could try and address in the winter market is the backline after a few issues there before the Premier League went on pause for the World Cup. That in turn could mean a few players at the club depart in order to help strengthen in defence as Tottenham look to hit the next level.
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So which defenders could potentially be sold and how much could the club bring in for them? football.london takes a look at three possible options.
Emerson Royal
Emerson has been a regular in Conte's backline throughout the season but has rarely contributed in the final third due to his struggles with the attacking aspect of his game. Only managing to register one assist from his 18 games in all competitions, Tottenham need so much more in the wing-back position if the head coach's system is to really flourish.
Matt Doherty's lack of regular starts would perhaps highlight him as the player to go if Tottenham are to do some business in the position, yet the Republic of Ireland international would not bring in as much money as his teammate due to his age. CIES Football Observatory value Emerson at up to £34million compared to £5m for Doherty and that possible extra £29m could go some way to helping the club find their ideal man.
Tottenham shouldn't be short on potential suitors as the likes of Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Juventus have been linked with Emerson in the past.
Davinson Sanchez
Minutes have come Sanchez's way this season but perhaps not as many as he would have liked. Behind Cristian Romero in the pecking order for the role on the right of the defence, the Argentina international has picked up a couple of issues that have allowed the Colombian into the team and string a run of games together.
Faring well in the opening month of the season, the 26-year-old has had a couple of suspect performances since and was hooked in the wins over Leicester City and Bournemouth. Given the need for the player to be playing week in, week out, rather than every now and then, an exit could potentially come to fruition for him at some point down the line.
CIES value Sanchez at up to £25m, which is £17m shy of the £42m they paid Ajax for him back in August 2017.
Japhet Tanganga
Looking set to head to AC Milan in the summer before a deal fell apart, Tanganga will be hoping that a move comes his way at the turn of the year after 17 minutes of action in 2022/23. Absent through injury in October but a regular on the bench on the whole, the defender's only game time came in the 2-0 Champions League win over Marseille in early September.
That's not enough for Tanganga, especially given the number of injuries he's had in recent seasons that have severely restricted his playing time. Whether it be on loan or a permanent deal, Tanganga needs to head elsewhere as there's no guarantee that his situation will improve heading into the second part of the campaign.
Valued at £5m by CIES, Tottenham will need to think long and hard if any potential permanent offers come their way as the 23-year-old is homegrown and that is something that has caused them many problems in the past. Set to turn 24 at the end of March, Tanganga needs something to change in January for the sake of his career.
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