Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Alasdair Gold & Rob Guest

The Emerson Royal message that explains why Antonio Conte was happy to keep him at Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur managed to pull together in the absence of Antonio Conte to overcome Manchester City and nobody epitomised that more than Emerson Royal.

The 24-year-old Brazilian was under pressure after the £40m signing of Pedro Porro and having been the focus of criticism from the fans but he pulled off the best performance of his Spurs career so far at the weekend. Emerson will have felt vindicated for rejecting any opportunity to leave Tottenham in the January window and Cristian Stellini called his performance 'perfect' after the 1-0 victory on Sunday night.

After the game, Emerson took to Instagram to post a simple message: "This is my team, this is Tottenham."

READ MORE: Pedro Porro illness, what Kane asked Conte on the phone, funny Lucas and Emerson's fitting post

It's an indication of just how attached the right wing-back is to the club and how determined he is to succeed. This is the same player who spent around £800,000 on trying to improve his game and his recovery in order to impress Spurs head coach Conte and the strength of Emerson's resolve will have impressed the Italian.

In the latest episode of the Gold & Guest Talk, our Spurs correspondents Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest discuss the Brazilian, as well as delving deeper into the win against Manchester City, Conte's absence and Harry Kane becoming Tottenham's undisputed record goalscorer after his 267th goal for the club settled Sunday's match.

You can find the new episode on most podcast platforms by heading right here.

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.