Tottenham will look to add to their defensive numbers this summer to bolster Ange Postecoglou’s backline as the overhaul continues in the Australian’s squad.
football.london have previously reported that Spurs are prioritising attacking and midfield signings in the weeks ahead, but are also set to add to their defensive numbers as the summer transfer window goes on, particularly with a stream of players heading out of the exit door at N17.
Tottenham conceded 61 goals last season, two fewer than in the previous campaign with the joint seventh best defence in the Premier League, but it was 32 goals more conceded than their north London rivals Arsenal let in and 27 more than champions Manchester City.
Spurs conceded 32 goals from open play, 14 from set-pieces – the joint sixth-highest in the Premier League – as well as seven penalties, five goals from counter attacks and netted three own goals themselves.
Postecoglou’s overhaul of his defence has already begun. Eric Dier, Japhet Tanganga and Ryan Sessegnon have all been released in recent weeks, the former joining Bayern Munich permanently and the latter two not having the final 12-month option on their contracts taken up by Spurs.
Sessegnon is working hard on his fitness at a training camp in Portugal with a number of Premier League clubs and Bundesliga sides monitoring his progress, although football.london understands the preference for the 24-year-old, who became a father for the first time last year, is to remain in England.
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In the centre of defence, on top of Dier and Tanganga’s departures, Spurs did take the extra year option on Joe Rodon’s contract due to the growing number of clubs interested in the Welshman after his 50-game season for Leeds in the Championship.
football.london reported on Sunday that Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton are among the Premier League clubs that are considering making a move for the 26-year-old, while Leeds retain a slim hope of signing the player despite losing to Southampton in the play-off final last month.
Postecoglou has a strong central defensive trio now in Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin with the Australian admitting last month that he would like to sign another centre-back to continue to bolster that senior core, with a decision to be made on the next steps for Ashley Phillips, who turns 19 this month and enjoyed a fine loan spell at Plymouth Argyle.
Romero has been linked by one media outlet in Argentina with interest from Real Madrid, although Spurs have distanced themselves from that report. The 26-year-old World Cup winner, currently looking to retain the Copa America with Lionel Messi & Co, has become a key cog at Tottenham and one of Postecoglou’s trusted lieutenants.
Talented 19-year-old academy centre-back Alfie Dorrington underwent surgery last month following his second hamstring injury of the season and is expected to return in August.
As Spurs look at further acquisitions later in the window for the senior centre-back slots, they scouted versatile Stuttgart defender Hiroki Ito ahead of his move to Bayern Munich and have looked at Murillo at Nottingham Forest, who is expected to have a hefty price tag after an impressive season despite his team’s struggles.
The club did not follow up last season’s interest in Lloyd Kelly or Tosin Adarabioyo, who ended up going to Newcastle and Chelsea respectively where they are expected to get more regular game time.
Postecoglou will expect all four of his senior centre-backs, including any newcomer, to battle it out for minutes across all competitions but that will not stop prospective signings from seeing a blocked path to game time at Tottenham. While he will get plenty more action in the next campaign, Dragusin swapped 19 straight Serie A matches of playing every minute at Genoa from the start of last season for four starts at Spurs from January onwards after his switch.
There are high hopes though for the 22-year-old Romanian, currently on duty for his country at Euro 2024, as he continues to adapt to the Premier League and he will be a key player next season.
Spurs have had a long-held interest in Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah but the 24-year-old started most of the games for the Blues after returning from injury and would expect to do the same elsewhere if forced to move this summer.
The likelihood with all of that in mind then is that Tottenham’s new centre-back would be someone looking to take a step into the Premier League or to a bigger club, as Dragusin did, happy to pause their minutes in order to continue their development and career.
At full-back, AC Milan are looking to take Emerson Royal to Italy but will have to bridge a gap in valuation with Tottenham, who are believed to be looking for around £21million for the right-back. The 25-year-old Brazilian appeared in 24 matches in Postecoglou’s first season in charge, showing his versatility with a number of his starts coming at centre-back, but he does not naturally fit the Australian’s system as a full-back.
Milan are set to sign Real Madrid U19s right-back Alex Jimenez after triggering the £4.2million option to buy in his loan from Real Madrid, but the 19-year-old is one for the future and is yet to make a Serie A start for the Italian side.
Postecoglou and Ben Davies will also have discussed the Wales international’s future after 10 years at Tottenham. The 31-year-old made 10 consecutive starts at centre-back for the Spurs boss midway through last season as injuries took hold but is also not a natural fit for the head coach’s inverted full-back role.
However, Davies is an experienced, versatile and well-respected member of the squad as well as being homegrown in the Premier League and Europa League, which could bring some pause from Tottenham over any desire he might have to play regular football elsewhere.
With Van de Ven able to back up Destiny Udogie at left-back, as well as Davies to a degree, plus potentially an incoming versatile centre-back or right-back, that could mean just the one full-back addition being required.
Sergio Reguilon and Djed Spence will both leave this summer, the duo having enjoyed positive loan moves to Brentford and Genoa respectively after less successful ones at Manchester United and Leeds United.
Tottenham will look at potential right-backs to replace Emerson and back-up Pedro Porro for the season ahead. Along with most of the Premier League’s top sides, Spurs have a strong interest in and have been closely watching Leeds teenager Archie Gray this season. The youngster only turned 18 in March but played 52 times last season for Daniel Farke’s side.
His versatility meant he started the season in various attacking, defensive and box-to-box central midfield roles, where he spent much of his academy years, but then went on to become a very effective right-back for Leeds, keeping Spence out of the team late in 2023.
That ability to play in both midfield and right-back would mark out Gray, who was first in a Leeds’ Premier League matchday squad as a 15-year-old two seasons ago, as a good candidate to take on Postecoglou’s inverted right-back role.
There would be plenty of competition for the teenager though, who would be worth big money with a long contract until 2028, after only signing a new deal in January. Much could depend on how much money the Yorkshire club need to raise after missing out on the riches of promotion to the Premier League even if they will be loathe to lose their homegrown star.
Some at Leeds might also point to the last 18-year-old to depart for Tottenham in Jack Clarke, who ended up dropping off the radar for a couple of seasons before restarting his career at Sunderland.
Tottenham will have a list of replacements in mind for Emerson should Milan meet their valuation or a compromise is found for the Brazilian’s transfer. Monaco’s Vanderson has been linked to Tottenham as well as Nottingham Forest, Napoli and Sevilla by various media outlets.
One thing is clear and that is that Spurs’ defensive options are going to look different as they seek to cut down on those goals conceded next season.
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