Blackburn Rovers centre-back Ashley Phillips has undergone his medical at Tottenham Hotspur after the North Londoners agreed a £3m fee with the Championship side, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claims that the 19-year-old will join Ange Postecoglou’s squad for the latter stages of their pre-season tour in Australia and South East Asia once the move is officially confirmed.
Phillips attracted interest from several clubs but he has opted to move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as he hopes Postecoglou will help him develop to become one the best defenders in the world.
The Daily Mail says that Phillips completed his medical with Spurs on Wednesday after a £3m deal was agreed between the two clubs and he’s now set to be unveiled as Tottenham’s latest new signing.
The highly-rated youngster is considered one for the future and enjoyed a breakthrough season at Ewood Park last year. He featured in 12 games for Blackburn Rovers across all competitions as they finished 7th in the EFL Championship table.
Tottenham are keen on bolstering their defensive options this summer with Postecoglou confirming that he hopes to sign at least one central defender in the coming weeks.
“Some of it I had identified early on. I don’t think it’s any secret about some of the areas we needed to strengthen. The goalkeeper was one and central defence is another,” he told reporters via 90min.
“I think that’s definitely our intention, absolutely [to sign them before the season begins]. We’ve been working on it for a while and we’ll definitely try to get it done as quickly as possible.”
Defensive reinforcement
Tottenham are said to be working on deals for Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba and Wolfsburg star Micky van de Ven. According to the Daily Mail, Van de Ven could cost Spurs around £30m to complete the move.
Postecoglou’s side have also been linked with moves for Chelsea youngster Levi Colwill, Manchester United former skipper Harry Maguire and former loanee Clement Lenglet.
Lenglet joined Spurs on a season-long loan deal from Barcelona and shined for the club last season. The 28-year-old featured in 35 games and made three goal contributions across all competitions as the Lilywhites finished 8th in the Premier League table.
Spurs remain in talks with Barcelona to find an agreement to sign the France international permanently this summer but they want to keep their options wide open in case the deal falls through.
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