Tottenham considering bringing in 19y/o centre-back to offset injuries, but major drawback attached

Tottenham are weighing up whether to recall a 19-year-old centre-back in January amid yet another injury crisis at the heart of defence, though doing so would come with a major drawback, according to a report.

Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven – Tottenham’s starting centre-back pairing – both returned to action in the 4-3 defeat to Chelsea last weekend.

Unfortunately for Spurs, not only did the result not go their way, but the two defenders both picked up fresh muscle injuries.

The pair are expected to miss the hectic festive period and Romero’s injury in particular could bleed into the new year, according to reports in his native Argentina. With Ben Davies sidelined with a hamstring injury, Radu Dragusin is the only recognised centre-back Ange Postecoglou can pick.

The ever-versatile Archie Gray can and will deputise alongside Dragusin over the coming weeks. However, it is far from an ideal situation and an injury to he or Dragusin could be catastrophic.

Accordingly, a fresh update from The Evening Standard has revealed Tottenham could look within to offset their injury crisis.

It’s claimed Spurs are considering recalling 19-year-old centre-back, Ashley Phillips, from his season-long loan spell at Stoke City.

The agreement contains a break clause which Tottenham can activate from the start of January.

However, while triggering the clause would unquestionably help Spurs in the short-term, there would be a significant drawback for the player…

Downside of recalling Ashley Phillips

Players cannot represent three different clubs in the same season. As such, and if Phillips were to feature for Spurs upon being recalled, he couldn’t then play for a third team if loaned back out later in January once Romero and Van de Ven have returned, for example.

In that scenario, Phillips would either wind up warming the bench at Tottenham when the senior players are available for selection, or be sent back into the youth set-up to play in the Premier League 2.

While the latter outcome isn’t exactly a disaster, it is no substitute for playing competitive first-team football, which is exactly what Phillips is doing at Stoke.

Indeed, after spending much of his first two months with Stoke on the bench, Phillips has started their last nine Championship matches in a row.

Clearly, recalling Phillips is a decision Tottenham must carefully weigh up before making a decision one way or the other.

Latest Tottenham news – Zabarnyi, Melia, Gomes, David

In other news, Give Me Sport claim Tottenham may respond to their injury woes by simply signing a new centre-back in January.

Bournemouth’s Illia Zabarnyi is in their sights and Spurs director Johan Lange, is prepared to lead negotiations.

Elsewhere, Tottenham are reportedly in advanced talks to land 10-goal St Patrick’s striker Mason Melia, with the club ‘pulling out all the stops’ to land the Irishman.

Spurs have become known for landing exciting youngsters of late. In the summer, they landed teenage trio Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and Min-hyeok Yang. And it appears as if they are closing in on another move for Melia next.

Finally, TBR Football reported Tottenham are accelerating a superb double deal for Lille pair Angel Gomes and Jonathan David.

Both players are out of contract next summer and the expectation is neither will sign new deals. As such, the chance to forge pre-contract agreements with the duo from January 1 is in play and Tottenham intend to do exactly that.

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