Tottenham cannot lose Danny Rose

Having failed to wrestle lose both Harry Kane and Eric Dier from Tottenham’s grasp this summer, Manchester United have returned — this time for Danny Rose.

Or, at least that’s what the rumor mill will have us believe about Tottenham’s star left-back and member of the PFA Team of the Year last term — the latter honor earned despite not playing a game past January.

United’s transfer window policy is more shotgun than sniper rifle, with the monied club linked with a vast amount of players from all over the continent. This latest doozy only comes after Jose Mourinho’s overtures to acquire Spurs legend Gareth Bale from Real Madrid appear to have failed.

How one loses out on Bale only to settle for Rose — players who feature in entirely different roles — is perhaps not the right question here. Mourinho does need a left-back after losing confidence in Luke Shaw, and it’s just icing on the cake if he can cripple a rival along the way.

And make no mistake — losing Rose would cripple Tottenham. It’s not even that he is an exceptional player. He is, and deserves all the praise he gets. But Spurs survived nearly half the season without him last time out. He falls just short of being indispensable.

No, this Rose rumor is a matter of optics.

At present, with less than a week to go until the start of the Premier League season, Spurs have one single solitary senior full-back at their disposal — Ben Davies.

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Kyle Walker was, of course, sold to rivals Manchester City earlier in the summer. The man understood to be his replacement, Kieran Trippier, was in the fold to start against Newcastle on Sunday — until he twisted his ankle in the final friendly of the summer. He will miss at least the first few matches of the season.

Rose himself continues to recover from the hip injury that kept him out for much of 2016/17’s latter half, and there is no set date for his return.

As capable as Davies might be, he can’t cover both sides of the pitch, nor can he provide the depth Spurs need to compete on multiple fronts in the coming season.

Which would make it especially galling if Spurs hear out United’s offer now — right in the midst of scrambling to find a right-back available to start the season mere days from now.

For the most part, the criticism of Tottenham’s quiet transfer window is wildly overblown. More faith is needed in Pochettino’s process and in the team he has already constructed. If we’re being realistic, at this point there are few players out there within Spurs’ price point that would actually represent upgrades.

That confidence is based largely on the club’s ability to keep the current team intact however. Selling off enough vital parts — even for exorbitant transfer fees — undercuts Pochettino’s project and the faith fans have in it.

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Losing Rose now might pad Spurs’ coffers, but it only worsens their chances at another title push or any kind of redemption in the Champions League. The club has a duty to quash this rumor before it becomes a reality.