Ashley Phillips expected to make his Stoke City debut against Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup
Tottenham Hotspur have a plethora of young talents in their ranks at the moment—both in the academy and first team.
To help them continue their development, the north London club have admirably either loaned them out or moved them on permanently. As a result, they have secured the immediate future of several highly rated academy stars.
Among many academy kids to leave Tottenham on loan is Ashley Phillips. The England youth international joined Stoke City on a season-long loan last week. He was on the bench against West Bromwich Albion in the Championship on Saturday, but is likely to start for Stoke City in a Carabao Cup second-round tie against Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough on Tuesday night.
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Ahead of his potential debut, Stoke City boss Steven Schumacher has opened up on what Ashley Phillips will bring to his side after arriving on loan from Spurs.
“Ash is a good player,” Steven Schumacher was quoted by Stoke on Trent.
“He’ll add something to us. He did really well last year on his loan spell at Plymouth. He’s a real good profile, big, physical, he can run. He’s comfortable on the ball. He’s a good addition to the squad, especially because we’ve got Michael Rose out injured and he still will be for another couple of weeks.”
Spurs signed Ashley Phillips last summer after activating his £2m release clause at Blackburn Rovers, handing the defender a five-year contract in the process. The £15k-per-week star, who has drawn comparisons to former Spurs star Kieran Trippier, remained at the club for the first six months of the 2023/24 season before moving to Plymouth Argyle on loan in January.
The defender played a key role in helping Plymouth Argyle avoid the dreaded relegation from the Championship, featuring 18 times while earning the club’s Young Player of the Season award, regardless of only joining them in January.
On the bench seven times for our first team last season under Big Ange, the teenager featured in the pre-season tour of Asia and post-friendlies earlier this summer, in addition to playing six competitive games for our Under-21s. Considering the high levels of competition within Big Ange’s squad, the Lilywhites have decided to send Phillips on loan to Stoke City to aid his development.
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For Phillips, it is a great opportunity to get regular minutes with the Potters and showcase his talent week in, and week out. We are excited to watch how our defender performs against Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, if given an opportunity by Steven Schumacher.
