Tottenham Hotspur are set to add another defender to their ranks in the coming days.
Indeed, Kota Takai is set to join Spurs and he’ll become Spurs’ second signing of the summer after Tottenham did a permanent deal to sign Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich.
Takai apparently arrives at Tottenham as a first-team option, and, in turn, he shakes up the pecking order at centre-back.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Alasdair Gold has been discussing what Takai’s arrival means for Ashley Phillips and he reckons it’s not good news for the young defender.
Ashley Phillips could be in danger at Tottenham
Gold shared his verdict on Phillips’ future, and, sadly, it doesn’t sound like good news for the youngster.
Phillips was seen as a ‘phenomenal’ young talent at one point, but, sadly, he’s never really had a shot at Tottenham.
“Ashley Phillips, you know, do you want a third loan spell? It looked like he was never going to break in under Postecoglou and now he must feel like he won’t under Thomas Frank either,” Gold said.
“If he has a long enough contract, you could get away with another loan, but it could be down to the player, he might not want to do that again. Yeah, Takai coming in, it’s not a good sign for him.”
Tottenham’s centre-back pecking order
Gold reckons Takai’s arrival may be bad news for Phillips, and it’s easy to see why.
Tottenham’s centre-back pecking order is now incredibly competitive, and what’s more concerning is that there are a number of players in the same age bracket as Phillips who are trying to break through at the moment as well.
Phillips is now one of four centre-backs at Tottenham under the age of 21 looking to break into the first-team, and, beyond that, Micky van de Ven, Kevin Danso and Radu Dragusin all have their best years ahead of them as well.
Spurs are set at centre-back for the moment, and, by the looks of things, Phillips may have to leave the club if he wants to develop into a top-quality defender.