One talented young player looked set to move up to the fringes of the Tottenham first team squad only for the club’s summer transfer window to change that
It’s hard not to feel some sympathy with Alfie Dorrington after a summer transfer window for Tottenham which only lengthened his path to the first team.
There’s a lot of belief within Spurs in the big central defender, who only turned 18 in April this year, and just how far he can go at the club in the years ahead. So impressed have the academy staff been with his development that there was a real hope after last season that Dorrington might just be pushing for a first team squad role under the next manager when that person eventually walked through the door.
The teenager, a boyhood Tottenham fan, was signed up to a new three-year deal in June after a string of impressive performances towards the end of the season for U21s, half of them still as a 17-year-old. He had also starred for the young age groups in a busy season which brought around 40 appearances, including as an ever-present for the U18s and U17s as they lifted both Premier League Cups.
Then Ange Postecoglou arrived and Dorrington, who has been with Spurs since he was 13, was among those training with the few first team players in the early weeks before the internationals arrived back from their holidays.
Unfortunately for the big centre-back, a roadblock appeared within a month in the big shape of his now England U19 team-mate Ashley Phillips.
Phillips, two months younger, arrived from Blackburn in a bargain deal due to a clause in his contract there. The also talented 18-year-old and Dorrington share many similar traits such as their towering height – Phillips slightly shading it – while both are very comfortable on the ball and have a turn of pace that lends itself to Postecoglou’s system.
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