Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou wants to take a closer look at young defenders Alfie Dorrington and Maksim Paskotsi in pre-season.
A report from Football London has shared more details on the Australian’s plans in the lead-up to the start of the Premier League.
Arguably the main area of Tottenham’s squad that needs improvement this summer is their defence.
Spurs conceded the most goals of any top-half side last season in the Premier League.
Clement Lenglet’s loan deal has now expired and discussions are ongoing about whether he’ll be signed permanently.
Davinson Sanchez, Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga are likely to move on, while there are question marks over Eric Dier’s recent form.
This means Ange Postecoglou could look to the academy in pre-season with Alfie Dorrington and Maksim Paskotsi identified as players to join up with the senior squad.
Spurs haven’t promoted too many youngsters to the first team in recent years.
The pair may hope a change in management could kickstart their careers in North London.
Postecoglou to look at Dorrington and Paskotsi
The report from Football London states that Dorrington and Paskotsi are ‘leading candidates’ for a call-up from the academy.
Alfie Dorrington is an 18-year-old England youth international who primarily plays as a centre-back.
He mainly featured for Tottenham’s under-18s last season but did step up to under-21 level on 10 occasions.
Dorrington also signed a new contract with the club that will run until 2026.
He’s a very tall defender and therefore has a very good aerial presence, while also being a decent ball player.
Alongside Dorrington, Postecoglou wants to look at 20-year-old defender Maksim Paskotsi.
Paskotsi had a heavily disrupted season through injury last campaign, playing just five times.
That didn’t stop him from training with the first team on several occasions and he’s already earned 18 senior caps for Estonia.
He’s a very quick defender and reads the game well, while also being strong in the air like Dorrington.
Postecoglou prefers for his defenders to play on the front foot with could suit Paskotsi.
Tottenham are linked with more senior centre-backs such as Victor Nelsson and Marc Guehi right now.
However, it might not be the worst thing to have an academy centre-back in the senior squad next season to prepare them for the future.