‘Hang on a minute’: Ian Wright suggests Spurs have made a big transfer mistake

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Ian Wright has admitted that he’s been left surprised by Tottenham Hotspur’s decision to offload Kyle Walker-Peters last year.

The 23-year-old full-back came through the ranks at Tottenham but made just 24 appearances for the Spurs senior team since his impressive debut against Newcastle in August 2017.

Last season, he made five appearances for Spurs and just one after Mourinho replaced Mauricio Pochettino, despite the club’s lack of options at right-back at the time.

Walker-Peters swapped London for Southampton on loan back in January and, in August, signed a five-year deal with the Saints for a reported £12million fee.

He has featured in all 18 matches the Saints have played so far this season, and is now Ralph Hasenhuttl’s first-choice right-back.

Walker-Peters was especially impressive against Liverpool on Monday, being named man of the match after keeping the likes of Sadio Mane at bay in the 1-0 home win.

And Wright feels the player is proving that Tottenham were wrong to let him go.

“I found it a surprise that Tottenham let him [Walker-Peters] go,” said the Arsenal legend, speaking on his Wrighty’s House podcast.

“All due respect to Serge Aurier, who seems to have found a little bit of something under Mourinho.

“But as a footballer, and what Walker-Peters is doing… I thought ‘hang on a minute, he’s doing everything’.

“He’s getting forward, he’s defending very well. Played brilliantly against [Sadio] Mane. It’s like (Brighton’s) Tariq Lamptey.”

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Walker-Peters appeared to be surplus to requirements at Tottenham, having failed to get regular game time for both Mauricio Pochettino and then Mourinho, so it wasn’t particularly surprising to see him leave last year.

That said, Daniel Levy was reportedly excited about the prospect of KWP breaking into the first team, but Mourinho didn’t rate him (ESPN), hence his eventual loan move away followed by a sale.