Stoke City have reportedly made contact with Tottenham Hotspur over the possibility of bringing in young centre-back Ashley Phillips on loan before the end of the window.
TEAMtalk's sources state that there have been ‘positive conversations held’ about the 19-year-old, and the feeling is that the Potters are in a strong position to sign him before the deadline, with Spurs happy to let him depart on loan for the season and the remaining days of the window set to be very busy at the bet365 Stadium.
Their report also claims that various clubs from England and around Europe have shown an interest in Phillips this summer, with Tottenham's chiefs regarding him as a player who can go to the highest levels in football.
As well as that, TEAMtalk say that it is currently unclear whether Stoke are trying to negotiate for an option or obligation to buy to be inserted into Phillips’ loan deal, but that seems unlikely given the high regard he is held in in North London.
Phillips has impressed in the second-tier
Despite still only being 19-years-old, Phillips already has a fair bit of first-team, and particularly Championship, experience after coming through the ranks at Blackburn Rovers as a youth player.
Phillips joined Rovers in 2017 at age 12, and made his first-team debut for the club as a 17-year-old in an EFL Cup game against Hartlepool United in August 2022, then featured for the first time in a league match that same month as a late substitute in a win against West Brom.
He then played 12 more times in all competitions in his one and only senior season as a Rovers player, before he joined Spurs last summer in a release-clause deal worth around £2m, despite Blackburn previously asking for an overall figure closer to £9.5m.
Phillips has, understandably, found game-time in Ange Postecoglou's team hard to come by, and did not feature for Spurs' first team last season, but did make the bench in the Premier League seven times before he moved back to the second-tier on loan to Plymouth Argyle in the January window.
The Manchester-born centre-back impressed in his five-month stint at Home Park as Argyle battled the drop under Ian Foster and Neil Dewsnip - he made 16 league starts and was a key part of the side that eventually survived relegation.
He now looks set to depart North London yet again, this time for a longer spell, and could be heading to the Potteries to link-up with a former Plymouth boss in Steven Schumacher.
Stoke need another centre-back
There have been persistent links to centre-backs throughout the transfer window for the Potters, and for good reason, given Schumacher's clear lack of depth in the position as it stands.
Stoke currently have Michael Rose, Ben Wilmot and new man Ben Gibson as their senior centre-back options for this campaign, as well as highly-rated youngsters Jaden Dixon and Freddie Anderson, who have been given chances in the first-team after featuring in pre-season, but are unlikely to be trusted to play every week in the Championship.
Rose picked up an ankle injury in a friendly at Crewe Alexandra on July 23 and is set to be sidelined until at least the end of September, which led Steven Schumacher to admit that a centre-back signing was "high on the priority list" before the transfer window closes on August 30, but no new signings have been made as yet.
Phillips would be an ideal addition to the heart of Schumacher's defence, as he would add youth, but also some second-tier experience to a back-line that is looking somewhat weaker at this point than it has in previous seasons, especially after a 3-0 defeat at Watford last time out.
Gibson is a solid signing, but on the wrong side of 30 and has been known to be injury-prone at his previous clubs, while Wilmot has not quite been able to rediscover his strong form from before his consecutive back and knee injuries last year, so Stoke fans will be thankful to see centre-back reinforcements this month, and should be especially pleased if Phillips makes the move back up north to bolster their rearguard for 2024/25.