Jose Mourinho says defender still has future at Tottenham

Jose Mourinho has revealed that Kyle Walker-Peters still has a future at Tottenham – despite not playing for the club since the middle of December.

The 23-year-old, who still has three years left on the long-term contract he signed back in 2018, is currently on loan at Southampton until the end of the season.

Walker-Peters made just a single appearance under the Portuguese – the 3-1 defeat against Bayern Munich in the Champions League – and didn’t appear to be in the Mourinho’s plans moving forward, making a summer exit looking extremely likely.

However, since making the loan switch to St Mary’s, Mourinho has been impressed with the right-back’s recent performances, including his outstanding display in Saints’ 1-0 victory over Manchester City on Sunday, in which he played 90 minutes for the second game in a row.

Mourinho said that Tottenham wouldn’t prevent Walker-Peters from leaving this summer, but admitted that there is still a place at Tottenham for the defender.

“He’s a kid that everyone loves here and Daniel Levy has a special feeling for here, Mourinho told Football.London. “He came here so young, a kid who has been here for years and years. He’s playing well.

“We let him go because we think he has the right to be happy. He’s happy now I think. He’s playing and playing well. I’m not in control of the transfer decisions but the general feeling is there’s a place for him here.

“But if his desire is to leave the club in search of happiness I don’t think we’d stop him. He’s a player with a good value in the market but I don’t think we’d stop him doing it.”