Tottenham Hotspur are still confident that they will sign Blackburn Rovers defender Ashley Phillips.
A report from The Athletic has shared more details about Tottenham’s pursuit of the teenage centre-back.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou has recognised a key area that needs improvement this summer.
The club have already made three permanent signings but have not addressed their issues in defence yet.
Cristian Romero will likely be Postecoglou’s first-choice centre-back after turning down offers to leave the club.
However, there’s less confidence in his teammates to perform at the highest level, with many of them linked with exits.
Tottenham are confident that Ashley Phillips will be one of the defenders that joins this summer.
The 18-year-old has been described as ‘phenomenal’ and has a huge future ahead of him.
Tottenham confident of sealing Phillips deal
The report from The Athletic suggests that Spurs initially thought they had a deal in place to sign Phillips earlier this summer.
His initial asking price was £3m plus another £2m in additional payments, but Blackburn have since increased their demands.
They now want a deal totalling £9.5m, however, Tottenham are confident that a ‘compromise can be reached’ for Phillips.
The 18-year-old defender is already an England Under-19 international and has 14 first-team appearances to his name.
Tottenham are looking to take advantage of the fact that Blackburn need to raise some money this summer.
They lost talisman, Ben Brereton Diaz, on a free transfer after narrowly missing out on the play-offs.
Postecoglou is looking to sign at least one senior centre-back ahead of the start of the season.
Micky Van de Ven and Edmond Tapsoba have been linked for some time now.
They could also move for Tosin Adarabioyo or bring Clement Lenglet back after his loan last season.
In Phillips, Tottenham are confident they’re going to get at one least defender through the door. However, they know they need more than that before the campaign begins.
