Report: Spurs hope 18-year-old academy star can make it into the first team

There is reportedly a belief from within Tottenham Hotspur that young defender Alfie Dorrington can make it as a first-team player in the near future. In the past, Tottenham have developed fantastic stars through their academy such as Ledley King and Harry Kane. In the first-team squad right now, Oliver Skipp is a fine example […]

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There is reportedly a belief from within Tottenham Hotspur that young defender Alfie Dorrington can make it as a first-team player in the near future.

In the past, Tottenham have developed fantastic stars through their academy such as Ledley King and Harry Kane. In the first-team squad right now, Oliver Skipp is a fine example of that pipeline, too.

At present, the Spurs first team are performing brilliantly, and remain unbeaten in the league under Ange Postecoglou. Suffice to say, the Australian is pretty happy with his players.

However, the squad does appear to be worryingly thin in the centre of defence, and an injury to either Micky van de Ven or Cristian Romero could be incredibly harmful given the lack of cover.

Luckily, Spurs have a couple of top talents in their youth squad who could well make the step up this year if needed.

TELFORD, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 15: Alfie Dorrington of Tottenham Hotspur U21 runs past Nathan Fraser of Wolves during Premier League 2 match between Wolverhampton Wanderers U21 AND Tottenham Hotspur U21 at New Bucks Head Stadium on October 15, 2022 in Telford, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

Is Alfie Dorrington ready for the first team?

Both Ashley Phillips and Alfie Dorrington have formed a solid partnership in a short space of time, and the latter is the subject of high praise in a recent report from Football.London.

Apparently, there is “a lot of belief” among the coaching staff at Spurs that Dorrington can go all the way to the top with the Lilywhites and he was expected to be “pushing for a first-team squad role” under Postecoglou.

The acquisition of his teammate, Phillips, however, has seemingly become something of a “roadblock” for Dorrington in his path to the first team. While the pair are playing well together, it is thought Phillips’ relative experience may give him the edge.

Despite Phillips making it onto the substitute bench for the first team recently, Dorrington has “only continued to improve” and is now “one of the stars” in the U21 side.

With Dorrington having “such a high ceiling” and Tottenham looking low on numbers in the centre of defence, there is a belief that the 18-year-old could “suddenly be elevated” into the first-team squad, too.

Spurs Web Opinion

We are in a very fortunate position to have not one, but two exciting young centre-backs fighting to join the first-team squad. I do not believe it has to be a competition between the two though, and there could well be opportunities for both Dorrington and Phillips to break into Postecoglou’s plans. 

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