Alan Hutton has agreed to pay his ex-agent an undisclosed fee, following allegations that he was frozen out of the deal that saw the player move from Glasgow Rangers to Tottenham.
Hopefully, this should prove to be a weight off Hutton’s mind, because the player that we’ve seen over the last season and a bit, has looked like there’s something bothering him.
If reports are to be believed, Hutton didn’t really want to leave Rangers and even if he did then his preferred destination was probably not Spurs, considering that Alex Ferguson had gone on record to praise the player. Yet when Hutton arrived at the Lane I was immediately impressed. Here was a full back with plenty of pace, who loved getting forward. He also looked solid defensively and unlike most full backs, wasn’t a midget. What had seemed like an exorbitant fee, now seemed a bargain.
However, at Tottenham no player can spend more than a few months at the club without getting injured. By the time Hutton returned, we had signed Corluka and his first team spot was no longer assured.
The 4-4 game against Arsenal last season was the first sign that all was not well in the world of Hutton. He looked very shaky and since then, he’s never really got back to the confident player we saw when he first joined the club.
There have been well documented problems for Hutton off the field, such as the fight with his father, the dispute with his former agent and there were of course other ‘rumours’ doing the rounds about him.
Hutton’s career at Spurs is at something of a crossroads. He’s getting some sporadic first team action when Corluka has to cover at centre back or when we need more thrust going forward, but if everyone if fit then Hutton is not going to make it to our first eleven.
With Lennon playing so much better with the stability of Corluka behind him and the Kyles providing more cover at right back, it’s hard to see Hutton having a long term future at Tottenham and it would be no surprise if he left in January or the summer.
This would be a shame, but Hutton would just be one of many talented players to have not quite fitted in at White Hart Lane. Let’s just hope that he can one day fulfill his potential, whether it’s at Tottenham or otherwise.
