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Legendary former manager Fabio Capello has insisted he would not have signed Emerson Royal from Tottenham Hotspur for AC Milan in the summer as the Brazilian has not improved the Rossoneri’s level.
Ange Postecoglou was backed in the summer transfer window as he was allowed to bring in the likes of Dominic Solanke, Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert as big-money signings.
But Spurs had to offload some fringe players to facilitate those signings and the likes of Giovani Lo Celso, Oliver Skipp and Royal were moved on.
AC Milan paid an €18m package for the Brazilian defender, but Capello thinks signing Royal from Tottenham was a mistake.
The former England manager feels the former Tottenham man has not improved the area of the pitch he plays in and Royal does not offer an improvement in level.
“For example, Emerson Royal does not seem to be fit for Milan”, Capello told Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport about the former Tottenham defender.
“It is a purchase that I would not have made because it does not improve you in an area of the pitch where you already had [Davide] Calabria, the young [Alex] Jimenez and, if you wanted, [Pierre] Kalulu, who would have been useful as a centre-back.
“I also think that a right-back was needed, but if you buy him, you have to go up a level and you did not do that with the Brazilian.”
The former Spurs man, though, has become an important player at AC Milan as he has already racked up more than 1,300 minutes, featuring 19 times for the Italian giants.
