Tottenham Hotspur were loosely linked with Leicester City Academy graduate Ben Chilwell over the summer and other than saying ‘November international break’ and the ongoing mix of views surrounding Danny Rose and Ben Davies, it was quite a topic of discussion on social media at the beginning of the week.
The original reports were hardly concrete but they did rumble on into September with the 21-year-old making the step up from the England Under 21 squad into Gareth Southgate’s plans, and he has remained in the national side since then – featuring most recently against Croatia – so I suspect this is why the talk has returned.
With plenty of Spurs fans having mixed views on Chilwell as an improvement, for me he certainly seemed to have the basics that would make Mauricio Pochettino feel like he’s a player he could improve given time, but he has recently signed a new deal at the King Power Stadium and that would only inflate the fee.
A number of fans felt a more immediate solution would be Celtic’s Kieran Tierney as they already think he’s showing greater development despite being the same age. Tierney certainly has greater game time under his belt and regular European action this season in both the Champions League and the Europa League as they failed to make the Group stages, so there’s little to split them really in my mind.
I’d quite happily welcome either if the deal was right and Poch had a plan.
He can’t cross a ball beating the first man, so yes he’s ideal ….
— SpursDiver ???????????? (@spursdiver) November 19, 2018
Kieran Tierney is a better player. Will cost less too
— Paul Hanley (@phanley55) November 19, 2018
Totally agree, tierney would be perfect for spurs
— Macca (@Maccadozz) November 19, 2018
He is the English Ben Davies. Brings nothing more. Cannot beat the first man.
— D A N (@DannyJamesEarls) November 19, 2018
Would rather someone with more pace to be honest. That seems to have been one of the main complaints of Davis vs Rose.
— Scott Clay (@scotthclay) November 19, 2018
Davies is 25 though and arguably not going to improve much more. Chilwell is only 21 and Poch has done wonders with the likes of Tripps in the past.
— Max (@MaxAlder16) November 19, 2018
Not better than Danny rose who when fit gets to the bye line for crosses..unfortunately rose can't get a break atm
— james bashford (@jamesbashford3) November 19, 2018
How about NO?
How about he can't beat a player?
How about he can't cross a ball?
How about we look at signing someone who is a marked improvement on what we have and not a replacement?
How about Spurs start competing in the transfer market?
— ????????Kool Keith (@KeithAnorak) November 19, 2018