Alasdair Gold has no doubt that Tottenham Hotspur will be looking for a new centre-back in January.
While Tottenham strengthened their defense by signing Micky van de Ven from Wolfsburg, which has proven to be a brilliant move so far, some Spurs fans were understandably disappointed that the club did not sign another defender central before the summer transfer window closes.
AUGUST 29: Rodrigo Muniz of Fulham fights with Micky van de Ven of Tottenham Hotspur for the ball during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur at Craven Cottage on August 29, 2023 in London, England .
With Davinson Sanchez joining Galatasaray this week, Eric Dier is now the only senior centre-back the Lilywhites could turn to if one of their two regular players were injured.
Unsurprisingly, it has already been reported in recent days that Tottenham are expected to revive their interest in Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly (90 mins) and Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo (Football Insider) when the window reopens in January.
Tottenham will have to sign a new central defender in January
Gold has now claimed that Spurs have no choice but to prioritize signing a centre-back during the winter transfer window.
The journalist told the Gold and Guest Talk Tottenham Podcast: “With Sanchez leaving they have that £12.8m to dedicate to a new recruit in January.
“Let’s be honest, they will sign a new central defender in January. It was something that Postecoglou wanted this summer. It hasn’t happened, it will happen in January, it has to happen.”
Postecoglou’s decision to greenlight Sánchez’s departure, despite his apparent reluctance to trust Dier, suggests the Australian has some tricks up his sleeve and could be open to the possibility of signing Ben Davies (or perhaps even Emerson Royal ) as a central defender.
Spurs defender scores within two minutes of being substituted on the pitch –
It looks like Ashley Phillips is going from strength to strength at the moment, as not only does the young Tottenham defender look set to get involved in Ange Postecoglou’s plans, but he has also just scored his first goal at U19 international level .
Ashley Phillips was signed by Blackburn Rovers in the summer in a £2 million deal (BBC) and was seen as a player Spurs would develop for the future.
At just 18 years old and with just 14 appearances for the senior team (Transfermarkt), no one would have expected Phillips to play much for the Tottenham first team this season.
The player himself also declared on the club’s website that he hoped to be part of Ange Postecoglou’s first team this year. And as he had hoped, Phillips found himself on the bench in the recent win over Burnley in the Premier League.
Postecoglou previously revealed that Phillips would be training with the first team “week in, week out” (Football.London) and it appears the young defender has greatly impressed his manager so far (Sky Sports).
With Davinson Sanchez leaving Spurs this summer, it is possible that Phillips could feature in the first team. And now the youngster returns to north London after the international break with his goal for the England U19s.
Phillips came on 63 minutes into the match against Switzerland and scored the goal within two minutes.
A cross into the penalty area found Phillips, who used a deflection to fire the ball in for his first goal at international level. Spurs centre-back Alfie Dorrington also featured in the match and started the 4-2 win over Switzerland.
I can’t wait for Ashley Phillips to get his chance in the Spurs first team and I think it will happen soon.
Eric Dier is clearly not part of Postecoglou’s plans and I wouldn’t be surprised if Phillips was almost above him in the pecking order now.
