Ange Postecoglou wants to take a closer look at two Tottenham academy stars
The Ange Postecoglou era is well and truly underway at Tottenham with a defensive rebuild one of the first tasks on the Australian’s to-do list.
Spurs will be looking to search the transfer market high and wide in order to identify and bring in defensive reinforcements this summer.
Postecoglou will need defenders who are sharp on the ball, aggressive and can step up into midfield to squeeze the opposition – these requirements are much different to what has been asked of the club’s current centre-backs in recent years.
As a result, Spurs need different options and defenders who can play this way. While the transfer market is the obvious way of finding what they need, the club’s academy also has some defensive gems worth a second look at.
And Football London has reported (19 June) that Postecoglou has identified two of the academy centre-backs who he will be keen to take a closer look at during pre-season.
These are 18-year-old Alfie Dorrington and 20-year-old Maksim Paskotsi.
Dorrington is an English youth international who recently committed his future to the club while Paskotsi has already represented his national side, Estonia, at senior level.
The Estonian has already made his first-team debut for the club and although he spent the end of last season on the sidelines with a back injury, he is expected to return to training ahead of next season.
At the age of 20, he might start to see an opportunity for more first-team minutes if he can impress the watching Postecoglou during pre-season and in training.
Meanwhile, Dorrington was a regular for the Under-18s and 21s last season featuring 10 times in the Premier League 2 and 16 times in the U18 Premier League. He was also a part of the Spurs side which lifted the U17 Premier League Cup.
With Postecoglou’s track record of linking the academy to the first team, both players will feel confident about breaking into the senior squad set-up next season and will be looking to impress.
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