Tottenham are keen to promote 18-year-old Alfie Dorrington from their U-21 side as a replacement for Eric Dier in the senior side.
According to Football Transfers, Tottenham are considering an internal promotion to replace Eric Dier in the first team. Their 18-year-old star Alfie Dorrington from the U21 side seems like the candidate to replace the experienced star, who inches closer to exiting the club ahead of the January window.
A glance at Tottenham’s defensive options will show Ange Postecoglou has a quality starting pair but needs more depth. The club chose to make some changes to the backline, with the arrival of Micky van de Ven considered a massive signing that has improved their defensive ranks.
We recently analysed Tottenham under Postecoglou so far this season, and there are doubts about whether they can challenge for the title around May of next year. One thing that appeared as a glaring problem was their defensive depth, as the Australian only has a few options beyond Romero and Van de Ven.
For instance, they allowed Davinson Sanchez to leave, while Eric Dier appears frozen out of Postecoglou’s first team. There’s interest in the 29-year-old from former club Sporting CP, while Roma are also keen on taking him on a free transfer.
Overall, it appears like Dier will leave the club, thus leaving space for another defender to arrive. Irrespective of the 29-year-old’s future, Tottenham have seen links to a new centre-back ahead of January, with the likes of Victor Nelsson, Edmond Tapsoba and Marc Guehi all reported as targets.
While Postecoglou might prefer to bring at least one senior centre-back, they are also exploring internal options to replace Dier. Now, they have identified 18-year-old Alfie Dorrington as a player who could take the 29-year-old’s place in the squad.
Tottenham and Postecoglou are not looking to make the 18-year-old a big part of their first-team plans but are exploring the idea of gradually giving him prominence as a squad player. Hence, it makes complete sense to promote from within rather than splash on an expensive option in the market.
It is a good idea, considering Postecoglou already has an established starting pair. With the potential arrival of another senior centre-back, there’s a squad place available for someone like Dorrington. They have also agreed on a deal to bring Croatian youngster Luka Vuskovic next year, as he could compete with Dorrington to have a place in the squad.
Overall, the plan seems healthy to preserve Tottenham’s ideas to bring in players from their U21 side. Postecoglou wants to bring an exciting squad that has balance and a level of competitiveness to achieve great things in the future, and the potential promotion of players like Dorrington could have a good overall effect.
