Tottenham Hotspur Women haven’t made many waves in the transfer window thus far, with their only real move being making Sweden defender Amanda Nildén’s loan from Juventus into a permanent signing. Yesterday, the club finally broke the seal on new additions, just ahead of the team beginning preseason training ahead of the 2024-25 WSL season. Spurs announced the signing of England U23 international defender Ella Morris, from Southampton, on a three year contract.
Morris isn’t a name Spurs fans (including myself) will be super familiar with, but she’s a highly regarded young defender who came up through Southampton’s youth system and has played the past two seasons for the Saints in the FA Women’s Championship. She’s already made 114 first team appearances for the Saints at age 21, scoring 14 goals.
In her first interview since joining, Morris said she’s excited to join Tottenham, a club she describes as “ambitious.”
“I’m very excited to be here, it’s a big Club with big ambitions so I’m excited to get started and meet everybody. The training ground is pretty amazing and the staff here are incredible.
“I spoke to Robert and Vicky [Jepson], the style of football they want to play is really exciting and that’s something I want to be a part of. The girls seem amazing as well, so I’m excited to get going with them.
“It’s my first time moving to a new club so I’m looking forward to being in a new environment, meet new people and throw myself into the deep end, hopefully make some friends for life and learn as much as I can from my teammates.”
Since joining Spurs, head coach Robert Vilahamn has worked to create a squad of talented and young players who can adapt to his high pressing and progressive tactics. Morris looks like a player who can fit into that structure, even if it’s not clear yet whether she becomes an instant starter. Morris is clearly coming in as one of the replacements for the departed Shelina Zadorsky and Asmita Ale in the defensive corps, both of whom officially left the club this summer.
More importantly however, she’s NOT another blonde ponytail on a team full of them, meaning she’ll be more easily identifiable in the back line on grainy FA Player streams! (Think of the bloggers!)
Looking forward to getting to know her and watching her play. Welcome to Tottenham, Ella Morris!