Transfer rumors linking Danny Rose to Manchester United are probably overblown

Nothing agitates the humors like a good, bracing transfer window, especially if you’re a Tottenham Hotspur fan. And if you thought that a second place finish and an overall good squad camaraderie would be enough to keep the transfer rumor wolves from the door, then oh my sweet summer child, you have much to learn.

Take this rumor, from the Daily Mirror, which suggests that Danny Rose is ready to quit the club like his soon-to-be-erstwhile fullback partner Kyle Walker, and head to Manchester United. Tottenham’s pursuit of 17-year old Fulham fullback Ryan Sessegnon and the extended run of play from Ben Davies is enough for Pochettino to consider cutting bait on Rose, who has a history of injury and is ready to make some bank at a “bigger club.”

Repeat after me: It’s the Mirror. It’s the Mirror. It’s the Mirror. It’s the Mirror. It’s the Mirror. It’s the Mirror.

Still, inside most bat country rumors there’s a tiny grain of truth, or if not truth, then a vaguely truth-like substance if you cock your head and squint at it long enough. So let’s unpack it.

It’s a known fact that there have been big clubs sniffing around Rose all season, and his long-term injury this year hasn’t stopped these rumors from popping up every now and then. And, let’s be honest -- if they wanted to Spurs could get a pretty good transfer fee for Rose, assuming they wanted to cash in.

But I suspect this could be Danny’s agent doing his job and seeing what the market is like for his client. Perhaps it’s Manchester United trying to redirect attention from their ACTUAL transfer target, assuming that Jose Mourinho isn’t interested in making up with Luke Shaw. Or it could just be the Mirror making stuff up.

Rose leaving would also completely contradict the tone of his comments on 5Live from a few days ago where he talked about how good the atmosphere is at Spurs and obliquely referenced Walker’s desire to leave for Manchester City.

“I think the club can only do so much. I think a lot of it has to come down to the individual, you know.

“I don’t want to speak on behalf of anyone, but working alongside someone like Harry Kane, I can tell you his mindset will be ‘I’m staying at Tottenham, I’m going to break every single record, like what Jermain Defoe’s got. I’m gonna set new records, I’m gonna get close to Alan Shearer as possible, I’m going to captain the club into the new stadium.’ So when you’ve got a player with that mindset I don’t think Tottenham have got to worry.

“But I think it just depends on where the individual is at the stage of his career. The player might think he’s done enough for Tottenham and he might fancy a change, or he might think that Tottenham is the ‘nearly’ club, we nearly go close to winning the league, we nearly go to the semifinals of the FA Cup, and he might choose to move on.

“So I think the club can only do so much and try and make the player see that the club’s going in the right direction and if you stick with us it won’t be long before we’re winning something.”

These are really good quotes from a player that, at least here, sounds like he’s happy with his situation at Tottenham and isn’t agitating to leave. Either that or when he says “the player” he’s referring to himself in the third person and NOT Kyle Walker, which would be weird. Ironically, the Mirror uses those same quotes as a wedge to imply that there are possibly numerous Spurs players who are ready for a change.

I’m not worried about Danny. I don’t think he’s had his head turned, and unless the club is concerned about his fitness to the extent that they’re ready to cut bait on him now and roll with Davies and (maybe?) Sessegnon, I don’t see him leaving this summer. Even with Spurs likely selling Kyle Walker, I find that scenario pretty unlikely.