Following Davinson Sanchez’s late departure to Galatasaray, Tottenham will need to address their options at center-back in January.
Following Davinson Sanchez’s late departure to Galatasaray, Tottenham will need to address their options at center-back in January.
Tottenham will have one clear priority in the transfer market when it reopens at the turn of the year. Despite the fact that the Premier League summer transfer market closed little over a week ago, Ange Postecoglou handed Davinson Sanchez the go light to join Galatasaray on Monday evening.
Tottenham were already in need of a new center-back previous to the 27-year-old’s departure, so the ex-Ajax man’s departure leaves them rather short at the back. Whereas Sanchez would cover for Cristian Romero if the World Cup winner was unavailable, it now appears that 18-year-old Ashley Phillips will do so.
Ben Davies will replace Micky van de Ven on the left wing if the Dutchman is unavailable. Eric Dier’s place in Postecoglou’s plans is likely to become much clearer over the next few weeks as a result of Sanchez’s transfer, with the England international previously missing out on the matchday squad in their first five games of the season.
Spurs clearly need defensive reinforcements come January, but they already have a couple of youngsters at the club who can save the Lilywhites millions in the future, with Luka Vuskovic now set to join Tottenham’s talented starlets in 2025 after turning 18 as a deal with Hajduk Split is almost complete. The first is Phillips, who came from Blackburn Rovers in a £2 million deal in early August.
The Salford-born centre-back made his senior debut for Rovers a year ago and went on to make 14 appearances for the Championship club in his first season. Phillips, who is 6ft 4in and already has the qualities to be a great hit in Postecoglou’s backline due to his prowess on the ball, has certainly caught the eye of the Spurs head coach at Hotspur Way, which is why he was on the bench for the 5-2 win at Burnley.
It might be Phillips’ first of many appearances in the Tottenham matchday squad, and he will be anxious to make his Tottenham debut in the not-too-distant future. Former Rovers manager Tony Mowbray described Phillips as “phenomenal” when he was 16 years old, and the £2 million Tottenham paid for his talents could turn out to be a steal.
Phillips’ memorable week continued on Saturday, when he scored his first international goal for England under-19s in a 4-2 victory over Switzerland, after making his first appearance in the Tottenham team. Alfie Dorrington, another Tottenham kid who might save the club a lot of money in the transfer market in the coming years, started that game.
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