Blackburn director reveals how the club lost Tottenham defender Ashley Phillips on the cheap
In a recent revelation that has sent ripples through the footballing world, Blackburn Rovers’ sporting director, Gregg Broughton, has shed light via Lancashire Telegraph on a fascinating twist regarding the sale of talented young defender Ashley Phillips to Tottenham Hotspur.
Broughton unveiled that had the burgeoning centre-back logged more minutes on the pitch last season, his release clause would have skyrocketed to a figure that could have filled Blackburn’s coffers to a much greater extent.
Ashley Phillips, a prodigious talent, burst onto the scene at Ewood Park at the tender age of 17, demonstrating immense promise and potential. Over the course of last season, the 18-year-old featured prominently for Blackburn Rovers.
🥇🚨| @CDEccleshare (🎙): “The noise coming out of #Tottenham is that Ashley Phillips is AHEAD of Eric Dier in the pecking order.”🤔@VFTLpodcast pic.twitter.com/pignao7LDK
— The Spurs Express (@TheSpursExpress) September 15, 2023
His stellar performance earned him the coveted Apprentice of the Season award in the fiercely competitive English Championship, a testament to his burgeoning prowess. Understandably, he caught the eye.
Furthermore, Phillips was entrusted with the captain’s armband for England’s Under-18s during the recently concluded International Tournament of Lisbon, underlining his status as a burgeoning star in the making.
Football. London’s Alasdair Gold recently unveiled an intriguing development regarding Phillips’ career trajectory. It has been disclosed that the young prodigy is poised to train with the Tottenham Hotspur first-team on a weekly basis, with the club set to make a crucial decision come January to keep him or loan him.
The most startling revelation, however, is the revelation by Gregg Broughton that Tottenham secured Phillips’ services for a mere £3 million due to a clause embedded in his contract. Here is what he had to say
“One of those was a very complicated release clause, described by our legal team as one of the most complicated they had ever worked on. It had various different triggers and we got to a situation in Easter where we knew he had to play a certain number of games more in order to take that to the next price level”
They understood that while they could have secured more money had Phillips played more minutes, it was paramount for his growth and the integrity of the game that he earned his spot on merit. It wasn’t a matter of one or two substitute appearances; it required substantial game time to activate the release clause.
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Phillips is now a Tottenham player and all that matters is how he performs here at the N17. Let’s see how it goes.
