As the 2023/24 Premier League campaign nears the business end, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou will be largely satisfied with his side's progress since he took the reins last summer.
A season of excitement and resurgence has been punctuated by setbacks and poor results, sure, but there's no question that Spurs have come on leaps and bounds after last year, with an eighth-placed finish leaving the club outside European qualification.
An upswing of performance on the pitch has come from the fifth-placed side's polished recruitment, with stars such as Micky van de Ven and James Maddison arriving and youth players being retained to excel in the Premier League 2.
It hasn't always been rosy in that department in recent years though, with the sale of Kyle Walker-Peters a prime example of a scenario where the club might have been wise to invest more time and energy into his growth.
Why Spurs sold Kyle Walker-Peters
Walker-Peters broke into the Tottenham first-team from the academy and chalked up 24 senior appearances, scoring once and supplying five assists.
Sadly, he was never appreciated by manager Jose Mourinho and was sold to Southampton for £12m in 2020, with Pierre-Emile Hobjberg heading in the other direction.
With Serge Aurier already on the books and Matt Doherty landed from Wolverhampton Wanderers for £15m that same window, it did seem that Tottenham knew what they were doing but Walker-Peters would have had a great chance of cementing himself as a starter, had a bit more prudence been involved.
At Southampton, the 26-year-old full-back has now featured 155 times and has been lauded as an "extraordinary player" by former Saints boss Ruben Selles.
Last season, the south coast club plummeted into the Championship but Walker-Peters has always been one of the standout players, attracting transfer interest from some of Europe's foremost outfits to emphasise this.
Kyle Walker-Peters' valuation in 2024
In the second tier this season, as per Sofascore, Walker-Peters has clinched two goals and two assists apiece across 34 starting appearances, completing 91% of his passes, averaging 1.1 key passes, 1.5 tackles and 5.4 ball recoveries per fixture while succeeding with 64% of his dribbles and prevailing in 60% of his ground duels.
Moreover, the 5 foot 8 defender ranks among the top 1% of full-backs across divisions similar to the Championship for pass completion and progressive carries, the top 2% for progressive passes, the top 3% for successful take-ons and the top 13% for shot-creating actions per 90, as per FBref, highlighting just how versatile and effective a player he is.
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This dynamic and rounded quality would be perfect for Postecoglou's system; while Pedro Porro is the undisputed No.1 at right-back, he would be the perfect understudy and could have enjoyed several years at this point having starred as the main man in the position, with Porro only signed in 2023.
As such, Premier League heavyweights such as Chelsea have considered a move, with TEAMtalk revealing in January that Chelsea were interested in signing the player amid injury issues to Reece James, with a belief that a deal could be struck for £30m.
Such a fee marks quite the increase on that initial £12m departure under Mourinho, with the full-back's value soaring by 150%.
While Walker-Peters didn't make the move, he's proven on English shores for several years now and those at Tottenham surely look at this one ruefully – he could have been a real asset over the past few years.
Market Movers
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