Tottenham offer ‘suprise’ contract to out-of-favour midfielder as they walk home grown tightrope

Tottenham Hotspur are believed to be in the final stages of wrapping up a new contract agreement with midfielder Oliver Skipp in a decision apparently motivated by Premier League home grown player rules.

The 23-year-old hasn’t been able to force a first team breakthrough but has attracted interest from Leicester City who agreed a deal with Chelsea for home grown talent Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Spurs are yet to recruit a player over the age of 18 in the current transfer window and while they remain confident that they will be able to strengthen their squad before deadline day, it appears they are concerned that letting Skipp depart could force them into some rash business as they would need to sign a home grown player to meet the Premier League requirement of eight in a squad.

Tottenham were open to selling Skipp as long as they could find a homegrown successor, but the midfielder now appears to be staying at the club.

Negotiations for a fresh accord are moving along, and an agreement might be reached this week.

Despite making 77 Premier League appearances and scoring one goal, Skipp has struggled to make an impact under Ange Postecoglou, starting the most of his 21 league games last season on the bench.

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Tottenham opt to keep out-of-favour midfielder

Since taking charge of the squad, Postecoglou has given preference to Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr, so Skipp has not enjoyed many opportunities for  sustained run in the team.

Tottenham will require a deeper squad for the coming term as they will be playing in the revamped UEFA Europa League and it would be advantageous if they were able to tie down Skipp.

It is unclear if Skipp has made any demands when it comes to assurances of game time in the coming campaign but a deal is expected to be concluded later this week.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was allowed to go on loan to Marseille by Spurs this summer and Rodrigo Bentancur has also been connected to a departure.

With those players set to depart, Skipp joining them in heading to the exit would leave Tottenham scrambling to ensure they have enough midfielders on hand for the 2024/2025 season.

From Skipp’s point of view the next campaign in his career could be a pivotal one in determining whether or not he fulfills his evident potential.

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