Tottenham target new central defender in January as injury problems mount
Tottenham will be looking for a new central defender in the January transfer window with Ange Postecoglou admitting they are thinly covered at the back.
The return of Argentina’s Cristian Romero from suspension has helped alleviate their problems but centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Eric Dier are both injured.
The full-back Ben Davies has been filling in at centre-back but Postecoglou says it is an area that needs reinforcing. “I thought Ben Davies was outstanding [in Sunday’s win against Newcastle United]. He’s getting a run of games,” Postecoglou said before Friday’s Premier League visit to lowly Nottingham Forest.
“We’ve got to be mindful he’s not a centre-back and he’s growing into that role. Ultimately we need to sign another centre-back, though, because at the moment we’re on tenterhooks in case something else happens.”
Tottenham ended a run of five games without a victory in the 4-1 defeat of Newcastle and are well positioned in fifth as they prepare to take on Forest.
Several players remain unavailable through injury including forwards James Maddison and Manor Solomon and midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, and there was another blow this week when Giovani Lo Celso was ruled out of the trip to the Midlands.
“Unfortunately he got a bit of a niggle at training, I don’t know what it is, but he missed training today so he’s not available tomorrow. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious,” Postecoglou said.
Ashley Phillips, an 18-year-old centre-back signed from Blackburn Rovers in the summer, is also out injured.
The manager has also warned Romero that his tackles will be under the spotlight for the rest of the season. Apart from his red card against Chelsea the Argentinian faced criticism on Sunday for a poor challenge on Callum Wilson.
VAR did review the incident, which stayed as a caution, but if Romero had been sent off, he would have faced a four-match suspension. “It’s fair to say the spotlight will be on him for the rest of the year,” Postecoglou said.
“Any challenge he does, whether it’s something that’s pretty clear like the Chelsea game or last week, which I thought was as much clumsy as anything else. He knows that, he understands that. He’s just got to make the adjustments that he needs to do during the game, but I don’t think it’s a subject for long chats.
“It’s pretty evident the impact he has on us when he’s playing and when he’s not, and we much prefer to have him out there.”