Tottenham youngster Ashley Phillips is performing well on loan at Stoke City
Tottenham Hotspur aren’t short on young talent at the moment, with Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear leading the way when it comes to exciting prospects emerging out of Hotspur Way.
Ange Postecoglou has not hesitated to give young talents and academy products opportunities to shine in the first team. He is aware of the development of the academy kids, and to help them take the next step, the Spurs boss allowed many of them to leave on loan. One of those was Ashley Phillips.
Ashley Phillips, who arrived at Tottenham from Blackburn Rovers in 2023, spent the second half of last season on loan at Plymouth Argyle. The youngster was one of Plymouth Argyle’s standout performers, playing a key role in helping the club secure their Championship status.
He returned to N17 in June and signed for Championship side Stoke City on a season-long loan two months later. After a slow start to life at Stoke City, the teenager is beginning to make strides and grab the opportunities coming his way with both hands.
John Wenham—the owner of the reputable Spurs podcast Lilywhite Rose—thinks Phillips should be ready for a Premier League loan next season after he returns from Blackburn. After back-to-back loan spells in the Championship, he wants the Tottenham youngster to test himself in the English top flight.
“I think Phillips will be ready for a Premier League loan next season,” John Wenham exclusively told Tottenham News.
“Hopefully the rest of this loan goes well for Phillips. If it does, I don’t see the point in him doing a third loan in the Championship.
“Therefore, it will have to be Premier League, and then see where things go from there.”
Phillips is taking impressive strides into senior football, and the fact that he had to patiently wait for his opportunities in the opening months of the season will allow him to develop in different facets of being a professional football player.
New Stoke boss Narcis Pelach has given the Manchester-born talent great confidence since replacing Steven Schumacher in mid-September. Under Pelach, the Potters are comparatively doing well and Phillips has been one of the key players in their resurgence. He started against his former employers Blackburn in midweek, helping his team keep a clean sheet in the 2-0 away success.
This was the teenager’s fourth successive start for the Championship outfit, and with every passing game, Phillips is gaining the trust of Pelach. Should the Stoke loan go well, the bosses at the Hotspur Way must consider sending the central defender on loan to a Premier League club next season.
Exposing Phillips to top-level football is essential and a temporary switch to a Premier League side—a mid-table or promoted—before integrating him into the Spurs side would not be a bad idea.