Tottenham Hotspur were in fierce negotiations with Liverpool to sign left back Andrew Robertson, and just when it looked like a deal would be able to go through for a few million pounds, it all ended up collapsing all of a sudden over the weekend.
The rationale given was that in order for Liverpool to feel comfortable selling Robertson to Tottenham and losing a left back - their only cover for the young Milos Kerkez - they would need to get their previous backup to Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, back from his loan to AS Roma.
But Roma, of course, do not want to give up Tsimikas back to Liverpool so easily, since he is, likewise, important to their depth as Gian Piero Gasperini chases his dreams of getting the Giallorossi back to the hallowed grounds of the Champions League.
Tottenham need Roma to make this move
Tottenham Hotspur may have just gotten a concrete lifeline to reopening the Andrew Robertson transfer, which is not dead yet. According to a report from Fabrizio Romano, an option has just opened up for Roma to acquire a legitimate left back to replace Kostas Tsimikas, who could then, as a result, be freed up to a move back to Liverpool, thus enabling Robertson to move to Spurs.
Per Fab, Roma are going after Wolves left back David Moller Wolfe and have submitted a "first proposal" to the Premier League club as they continue negotiations. Wolfe to Roma looks like it has real legs to it, and because it could lead to so many moving pieces at powerful Premier League clubs, there's a good chance someone makes an extra push to making this happen for a permanent deal.
So Robertson to Tottenham still actually looks more likely than not to happen, because all that needs to be done is for Roma to either let Tsimikas go despite not getting a left back and make do or to sign someone like Wolfe or even another player to replace him.
Spurs, though, have to realize that regardless of whether or not they sign Robertson, they are still in a crisis mode and have to get rid of Thomas Frank, who has badly underperformed as manager. Robertson can help Souza go on loan and make Djed Spence more of a right back (or even left winger again), but as with Conor Gallagher, Spurs need to keep in the back of their minds that there is a reason why Robertson's current club no longer needs him.