View: Tottenham set to finally sign brand new centre-back in Ashley Phillips amid £8million financial victory
Tottenham are set to finally confirm the signing of a brand new central defender, Ashley Phillips, which represents a financial victory for Daniel Levy and the club.
Spurs are desperately crying out for new defenders this summer and despite now being in August, Ange Postecoglou is still yet to officially receive the reinforcements he so badly needs.
However, it now appears as if the club are close to completing the signing of a centre-back, although it is not a name that fans would have been expecting or would perhaps even be familiar with.
After weeks of back-and-forth with Blackburn Rovers, it now seems as if Tottenham are set to land their man and bring Phillips to North London. While many supporters might question why what appears to be such a straightforward deal has taken so long, the waiting around appears to have saved Spurs some money.
As reported by the Evening Standard (2 August), Levy thought he had agreed a £5million deal for the highly-rated 18-year-old weeks ago, and Phillips had even travelled to London for his medical at Hotspur Way.
But right at the last minute, Blackburn increased the asking price to £9.5m in the hope a bidding war would break out.
In the end that bidding war never arrived and it appears as if the Championship club have now shot themselves in the foot, as a £2million release clause becomes active in Phillips’ contract on Friday 4 August.
Rovers will still hope to include add-ons in any deal, which could perhaps push the price toward the £6.5m mark, but it appears as if their decision to increase the price when they had a guaranteed £5m package on the table has come back to haunt them.
Phillips made his Championship debut only one year ago and is considered a player very much for the future with his signing not expected to slow down Spurs’ pursuit of a first-team centre-back who is ready to slot into the side now.
If anything, the potential saving of up to £8m should now be used toward the signing of that particular centre-back.
No excuses now, Mr Levy, over to you.
In other Tottenham News, the academy has been dealt a blow by recent exit news.