Tottenham are still looking to add to their defensive ranks despite Thomas Frank primarily focusing on bringing in forwards this summer.
Frank has plenty of options at centre-back and is willing to give Luka Vušković and Ashley Phillips a chance in pre-season, but is more limited at full-back.
Pedro Porro could potentially leave Spurs this summer, while Destiny Udogie can’t be relied on entirely following his injury record in N17.
Djed Spence remains an enigma, leaving Frank in need of reinforcements as he seeks to improve Tottenham’s concerning defensive record under his predecessor.
Antonee Robinson is on Tottenham’s radar this summer
Tottenham are exploring potential full-backs this summer and wish to continue on their path of adding Premier League experience to their youthful squad.
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As per Paul O’Keefe, speaking on The Inside Foreword (2 July), one of the players on Spurs’ radar is Fulham captain Antonee Robinson.
The athletic American international has developed into one of the Premier League’s foremost full-backs, achieving a career-high 10 league assists last season.
Due to his impressive physicality and excellent crossing, he has occasionally played further up the field and would offer Frank a multitude of options.
However, ex-Spurs scout Bryan King – speaking exclusively to Tottenham News – believes that it would take an obscene figure of £50million for Fulham to accept their skipper leaving this summer.
“Why would Fulham want to get rid of him,” King said.
“Why would they allow him to leave if he’s still got three years on his contract? If Tottenham are interested, it’s going to take £50m. They’ve got Udogie, where’s he gone? He’s still a Tottenham player, an Italy international.
“Speculation at this time of the year is speculation. The only reason Robinson would want to leave Fulham is because Tottenham have UEFA Champions League football. Fulham did quite well last year, and he was one of the reasons.
“Spurs have decent depth at full-back anyway. I think this is speculation; I don’t think Fulham will accept any offers unless it is an obscene amount of money.”
Robinson would block Udogie’s progress at Spurs
Tottenham’s lack of depth was glaringly exposed last season as the Lilywhites struggled to cope with injuries, both in terms of numbers and, more significantly, in terms of performance.
However, signing a player of Robinson’s quality is not the solution, as the Cottagers’ skipper would stunt Udogie’s development.
The 27-year-old has missed just six Premier League fixtures over the last three seasons and would not join Spurs unless he was guaranteed a starting spot.
This would effectively mean that Udogie would be relegated to a bit-part role, which would be detrimental to his progress and could see him quickly become disgruntled in North London.