Tottenham Hotspur face an uphill task to meet UEFA’s club-trained player quota for the Champions League, and the list of realistic options to plug that gap may leave fans thoroughly underwhelmed.
It is no news that Tottenham Hotspur could find themselves in a bit of a puddle when completing the registration of their players for the UEFA Champions League.
As it stands, Tottenham have a big gap in their squad, as they do not have enough club-trained players to register for the upcoming Champions League, which requires that every team have at least four of such players.
According to UEFA, a club-trained player is one who has spent at least three full seasons at a club between the ages of 15 and 21.
At present, Brandon Austin is the only player in the current Tottenham team who fits that criteria, which means if Spurs are to fill the remaining three slots, they would have to sign former players who have spent at least three full seasons in N17 between the ages of 15 and 21.
Tottenham’s club-trained dilemma could force Dennis Cirkin or Kyle Walker-Peters return
This, of course, leaves Tottenham in a tricky position, as many of the players who meet these criteria are rather underwhelming.
A few of such players have Premier League experience, others simply are not good enough to make the team, while two are unrealistic options at present.
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For those with Premier League experience, Tottenham could turn to Harry Winks, Kyle Walker-Peters, Oliver Skipp, and Dennis Cirkin, who only just secured promotion to the Premier League with Sunderland.
Interestingly, Tottenham are already said to be pursuing a deal to sign Kyle Walker-Peters this summer, as the 28-year-old full-back is expected to be a free agent.
Spurs have also been linked with Dennis Cirkin of Sunderland, but given that the buy-back clause in the full-back’s initial deal has expired, Tottenham would have to negotiate a fee with Sunderland if they are to sign him this summer.
Given Tottenham’s current defensive depth, it is very unlikely that they will sign both Cirkin and Walker-Peters, which means if the signing of one of the two full-backs is completed, there would still be two club-trained slots left unfilled.
Tottenham’s record goalscorer is not a realistic option, as Harry Kane has stated that he is happy at Bayern Munich.
Other options the Lilywhites could consider are Troy Parrott, who could serve as a backup option to Dominic Solanke, Japhet Tanganga as centre-back cover, Marcus Edwards as a wide option, midfielders Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp, along with veteran defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and 22-year-old Romaine Mundle of Sunderland.
Ten potential club-trained options for Spurs
Tottenham are in this situation because they have not consistently developed top youngsters from their academy setup, and the few that have shown real quality have often been sold on.
It will be interesting to see how the Lilywhites manage this conundrum during the summer transfer window.