Dan Carter

Wed 13 December 2023 20:10, UK

With the January transfer window looming in the near future, Tottenham will be considering their options as they look to help Ange Postecoglou push for the Champions League.

Spurs’ lack of depth at centre-back has made defensive reinforcements a priority in the new year, Postecglou is also eager to add to his forward line for the second half of the campaign, but Tottenham could be set to also add to their midfield ranks.

Technical director Johan Lange is reportedly a “big fan” of Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips and Spurs could move to sign the England international should Pierre Emile-Hojberg depart North London [The Telegraph, 18 October].

However, former Spurs forward Darren Bent isn’t convinced that the 28-year-old would be a good fit for Postecoglou’s side this January, suggesting there is “absolutely” no chance he would be picked ahead of Yves Bissouma.

Speaking on talkSPORT (13 December, 17:10) he said: “Instead of Bissouma? Absolutely not. That’s Bissouma’s position. Papa Sarr’s injured so maybe there’s an option there while James Maddison’s out.

“But wherever he goes next, he cannot go there and sit on somebody’s bench. Anywhere in the Premier League, within reason, he has to be playing minutes.”

Phillips’ biggest issue at the Etihad this season has been a lack of involvement in the Premier League. In the opening 16 games of the campaign, the England midfielder has only made four cameos from the bench, totalling 89 minutes of action [Fotmob].

Last term wasn’t much better for the 28-year-old, as he only started two league matches, making 10 further appearances from the bench to spend 291 minutes on the pitch. It does feel unlikely that Postecoglou would pick a player with such little recent experience ahead of Bissouma who has been excellent this season.

In his most recent start under Pep Guardiola, against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, Phillips was unable to impact the game either in or out of possession. Of the 15 duels that he contested in the game, he only came away with the ball three times, finishing with a poor win rate of 20 per cent [Fotmob].

On the ball, the former Leeds United man completed 92 per cent of his 111 attempted passes but failed to create a single chance for Guardiola’s side as he was dispossessed twice and failed to complete either of his two dribbles in the contest.

In the 2021/22 campaign, the last time Phillips featured regularly in the top flight with Leeds, he did impress defensively, placing in the top 10 per cent of the division’s midfielders for tackles completed per 90 minutes and the top four per cent for blocks per match [Fbref].

However, he didn’t show the quality on the ball that would suggest he could be a success in Postecoglou’s system. His pass completion percentage of 80.9 per cent saw him fit in the 57th percentile of Premier League midfielders and he only completed an average of 16.2 short passes per game.

Phillips very rarely produced anything creative in possession, lying in the 13th percentile for key passes per 90 minutes and the 15th for expected assists. On top of that, he only averaged 1.69 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes, worse than 84 per cent of his positional peers.

He might be defensively strong, but he doesn’t have that magic touch to play ahead of Bissouma in a more creative role akin to Maddison.

Tottenham may well be tempted to add Phillips to their ranks and some within the club may rate the England international highly, but there is little suggest he would be a success in North London.

Bent is right to suggest Spurs should avoid the Manchester City man this January.

In other Tottenham news, Jamie O’Hara was left enraged by Cristian Romero’s “naughty” performance for Spurs against Newcastle