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Daniel Bentley would be ideal for Tottenham and Pochettino in 2019

Daniel Bentley of Brentford celebrates as Brentford score the first goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Brentford and Wigan on Sept...
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Tottenham Hotspur should be in the market for a new goalkeeper in 2019.

Michel Vorm of Tottenham Hotspur looks on during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium on September 15, 2018 in London, United Kingdom.

Tottenham Hotspur have received praise for their development of English players in recent years, but they may be moving away from that approach.

Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Kieran Trippier, Dele Alli and Harry Kane have all flourished under Mauricio Pochettino, as did now-departed full back Kyle Walker, but Tottenham’s recent business is a concern in this area.

The last English player to sign for Tottenham’s first team was Trippier in the summer of 2015, and whilst the club’s youth setup is making up for that, English talents – particularly in the Football League – should be a top priority for Spurs following Alli’s success.

Rival Premier League clubs have even been signing English goalkeepers to meet homegrown quotas, such as Chelsea’s Rob Green and Manchester United’s Lee Grant – yet Spurs are using three non-homegrown spots on goalkeepers Hugo Lloris, Michel Vorm and Paulo Gazzaniga, whilst Eric Dier and Ben Davies bizarrely don’t count as homegrown in Europe.

With Vorm struggling, Tottenham should be looking to bring in an English goalkeeper to back up Lloris and be groomed for the future, freeing up non-homegrown spots elsewhere – and whilst Fulham’s Marcus Bettinelli would be a smart choice, Brentford’s Daniel Bentley is the player Spurs should target.

Bentley, a former Arsenal trainee, flourished with Southend United before heading to Brentford in 2016, and is now one of the top goalkeepers in the Championship, starring for Dean Smith’s side.

Daniel Bentley of Brentford celebrates as Brentford score the first goal during the  Sky Bet Championship match between Brentford and Wigan on September 15, 2018 in Brentford, England.

At 25, Bentley has his best years ahead of him as a goalkeeper, and one of the key reasons why Spurs should be keen is the fact that he is excellent at playing out from the back, possessing great distribution and confidence on the ball.

Those are attributes that Vorm has lacked of late, and it has become clear that the Dutchman should no longer be Tottenham’s second choice, with Bentley a much more suitable choice both on and off the pitch.

With Brentford bidding for promotion to the Premier League, a January move may be difficult, but if they miss out on the top flight, Spurs should be ready to pounce for Bentley as Vorm’s replacement and even Lloris’s successor down the line, with a deal to stay in London surely appealing to the shot-stopper.

Daniel Bentley of Brentford during the Sky Bet Championship match between Aston Villa and Brentford  at Villa Park on August 22, 2018 in Birmingham, England.