Tottenham: £42k-a-week star 'not loved by fans' at Hotspur Way

Tottenham right wing-back Emerson Royal is “not loved by a lot of fans”, according to The Sun journalist Tom Barclay.

The £42,000 per-week star has been Antonio Conte’s first choice this season, but Barclay feels like supporters are frustrated by his lack of quality in attacking positions.

Despite the claims from Barclay, he had started every game this season until he dropped out of the side for the victory over Leicester before the international break.

Royal’s run of consecutive starts comes despite having seemingly stiff competition from Matt Doherty and summer arrival Djed Spence.

But Spence has hardly had a look in, often even missing out on matchday squads, while Doherty has also regularly been overlooked by Conte, who doesn’t feel he’s back to full fitness following injury.

Therefore, Royal has been getting plenty of game-time, even though he’s not completely at home in Conte’s system.

In 40 games under Conte’s guidance, Royal has registered just three goal involvements, one fewer than Ivan Perisic has managed in only nine games, highlighting his struggles in the wing-back role.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “That right wing-back spot is an interesting topic of debate at Tottenham.

“Emerson Royal had started the last 18 games in all competitions and then got, I believe, rested rather than dropped against Leicester, but he’s obviously not loved by a lot of Spurs fans.

“I think they see him as being a bit limited going forward with his attacking abilities in this system but to be fair to him, he’s naturally a right-back, so he’s having to adapt and learn a new way of playing.”

Despite Perisic claiming another assist against Leicester, Conte’s experiment of playing him on the right didn’t really work.

Therefore, the