Tottenham won’t sell Danny Rose to Manchester United for two key reasons
Tottenham will keep hold of Danny Rose
There’s no question that Manchester United would like to pry Danny Rose away from Tottenham in January. Unfortunately for Jose Mourinho and company, Spurs have two massive reasons to keep their talented left back in North London.
Rumours have been flying all week about United’s interest in the English international, but Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino doused the reports with cold water today. He claims that Rose is happy where he is and that no Tottenham player is for sale at the current moment in time.
Some fans might view those comments from Pochettino as smoke designed to drive Rose’s price up. After all, many Tottenham fans want to see him sold after his controversial comments this summer about the club. Fortunately, cooler heads at the club are going to prevail.
Keeping Rose is vital for the club’s long-term future for two main reasons. First, Tottenham are desperate to make it clear they aren’t in the business of strengthening Premier League rivals.
Selling Kyle Walker to Manchester City for an outrageous fee convinced some fans that Spurs were still open for business for richer Premier League clubs. The reality was that Pochettino felt he could upgrade his right back options and secure a massive profit after that transaction. His feelings were justified when Spurs brought in Serge Aurier for roughly half the price of Walker on Deadline Day.
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Perhaps if Real Madrid or Barcelona came calling, Pochettino would listen to offers from Rose. The fact that it’s Manchester United means he’s staying put unless Spurs receive a truly ridiculous financial offer.
The second reason Tottenham will resist all offers for Rose in January is that Daniel Levy wants to make an example out of the outspoken star to the rest of the squad. Rose offended lots of people at Tottenham (club officials and fans alike) with his comments about the club’s wage structure. You can be certain those comments infuriated Levy.
While he’s calmed down now, Levy also sees the bigger issue at play here. He can’t afford to let another star player make a move within the Premier League for larger wages. If he gives in to Rose’s demands after ceding to Walker’s wishes, it could open the floodgates. There’d be nothing to stop players like Dele Alli and Toby Alderweireld from pushing for their own moves. Losing Rose would be one thing, losing half the squad would be quite another.
The prudent thing for Levy to do is simply to refuse to sanction a move within England for Rose. He’s under contract with the club for several more years and the player really can’t afford to go on strike. Rose needs to play well to get in the England squad for the upcoming World Cup. Quibbling over his wages would be a good way to make sure he doesn’t make the trip to Russia in what would likely be his final opportunity due to age. Simply put, Levy holds all the leverage here.
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The only thing that could get Danny Rose moved to Manchester United this January is a truly silly transfer offer. Absent that, he’s going to remain at Tottenham for the foreseeable future.