Tottenham fail with Rafael da Silva Approach
Tottenham Hotspur are reported to have failed with an approach to sign former Manchester United defender Rafael da Silva this summer. The Brazilian right-back is currently in the ranks of Lyon whom he joined from Manchester United in the summer of 2015.
The 27-year-old managed over 100 top-flight appearances for Manchester United during his seven-year stay between 2008 and 2015 and Spurs have identified him as a potential replacement for Kyle Walker, who left for Manchester City earlier in the month.
Walker had been the mainstay in the Spurs setup over the past couple of years, but the emergence of Kieran Trippier meant that he struggled for first-team action in the backend of last season. The former Sheffield man is said to have also had a rift with manager Mauricio Pochettino, and he eventually agreed to join the Citizens, who coughed up a £54m package, thus making him the most-expensive goalkeeper in the world.
According to L'Equipe, Les Gones turned down Spurs' offer without a second thought as they do not have much backup in terms of personnel in the right-back department. Christophe Jallet had been sharing the duties alongside Rafael in recent seasons, but he has now joined Nice on a free transfer - leaving summer signing Kenny Tete to handle the burden.
Nevertheless, Spurs could have another go to sign the South American defender this summer as they could use his services in a rotation policy with the club competing on all four fronts once again. Pochettino has since his side struggle to make progress in Europe in recent seasons, and their summer spending could be key to solving their patchy form, which may have been influenced by the change of stadium last term.
Spurs played their European games at Wembley last term as part of the renovation process for their new home-ground, and this proved to be more of a disadvantage as they mustered just a solitary win in nine outings.
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