Tottenham: £27m star needs to 'up his levels' at Hotspur Way

Tottenham star Emerson Royal will have to start performing better to win his place back, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

The £27m-rated right wing-back was dropped from the side for the 6-2 win over Leicester and Jones reckons that Antonio Conte has other “intriguing options” out wide, which could see Royal made to wait for his next chance.

Following the defeat against Sporting CP four days earlier, changes were almost certain to happen against the Foxes, with Conte making exactly four from the 2-0 defeat in Lisbon.

But that didn’t help Spurs in the early stages, with one of those in Davinson Sanchez, conceding an early penalty that Youri Tielemans thumped home at the second time of asking.

Harry Kane and Eric Dier did turn the game around for Tottenham, but James Maddison restored parity just before the interval.

However, Rodrigo Bentancur’s first goal for the club put Spurs back in front before Heung-Min Son stepped off the bench to score a spectacular hat-trick and complete the scoring.

It was far from vintage Tottenham, but it was their biggest win of the season, which meant they didn’t feel Royal’s absence down the right, with Ivan Perisic and Ryan Sessegnon starting on the flanks.

As a result, Jones reckons the Brazilian will have to start playing better if he wants to return to the starting XI following the international break.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Emerson has been playing more often than most Spurs fans would have wanted or expected and the Sess-Perisic combination on each side is a pretty intriguing option to have. Emerson is definitely going to have to up his levels a bit to get back in.”

A north London derby isn’t the time to experiment, especially against a Gunners side who are playing some of