Tottenham are surely regretting selling Kieran Trippier this summer given their lack of options at right-back. In one of the more unexpected departures of the transfer window, Spurs allowed England international Trippier to join La Liga giants Atletico Madrid for the relatively modest fee of £20million plus add-ons.
The transfer certainly raised a few eyebrows at the time, given Trippier had emerged as Spurs’ first-choice right-back following Kyle Walker’s departure to Manchester City in 2017, while he was also a star performer during England’s run to the semi-finals of last year’s World Cup.
Yes, it could be argued that last season was not a vintage campaign for Trippier on a personal note, but the 28-year-old still featured 38 times across all competitions for Spurs, with what proved to be his last appearance for the club coming in the Champions League final defeat to Liverpool in June.
However, over the course of the summer, there appears to have been a breakdown in the relationship between player and club and that contributed to Trippier’s departure in mid-July.
That still gave Spurs more than enough time to bring in a replacement, but they failed to do so and that has left the North Londoners looking short in a key position.
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The lack of fitness and seemingly faith in Serge Aurier has meant he is yet to feature this term, with Pochettino instead preferring to go with youngster Kyle Walker-Peters, who hasn’t exactly been pulling up trees.
Indeed, Walker-Peters was injured during the recent defeat to Newcastle and, with Aurier still out of favour and Juan Foyth, who filled in at right-back during pre-season, also on the treatment table, it has left Spurs very short on the right side of their defence.
Midfielder Moussa Sissoko filled in at right-back when Walker-Peters went off injured against Newcastle, while centre-back Davinson Sanchez played without too much success during last weekend’s North London derby draw with Arsenal.
The current lack of a senior right-back has cast further scrutiny over why Spurs opted to sell Trippier, who has recently revealed his unhappiness with the way the club handled his departure.
The fact the former Burnley ace has been earning rave reviews during his brief time with Atleti will have added to the frustration that a number of Spurs fans have been feeling.
One thing is for sure, the departure and subsequent failure to replace Trippier has weakened the Spurs first-team and has seemingly contributed to their lacklustre start to the season.
Indeed, Spurs have only won one of their opening four top-flight games this term and they already find themselves sitting seven points behind early pacesetters Liverpool.
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