Ledley King has lavished praise on Tottenham Hotspur defender Joe Rodon amid his performances for Wales at Euro 2020.
Tottenham spent £11 million on the defender last summer but it was a difficult first season in North London.
In total, Rodon started only eight Premier League games for Spurs – and none when Ryan Mason took over from axed Jose Mourinho.
Not only is King on the coaching staff at Hotspur Way, but he’s also probably the best central defender to pull on the shirt for this club in decades.
And King has pointed to the 23-year-old’s enthusiasm in training, the determination to improve as a player, as a sign that he’s got a ‘bright future’ in the game.
He wrote in The Standard: “We did a lot of individual work at Spurs after training, which shows his character. A lot of players can be down when they’re not playing and want to get off the training pitch as soon as possible, but Joe was often the last there, always wanting to do extra. We trust him at Tottenham and I’ve got no doubt he has a bright future.”
No joy from Mason
Rodon was ineligible for the League Cup final defeat by Manchester City at Wembley.
But he could’ve started in any of the six Premier League games that Mason oversaw at Tottenham.
And apart from coming on in the 93rd minute of the win over Leicester on the final day, the big defender didn’t even get on the pitch.
There were a lot of Tottenham fans calling on Mason to start him in place of Eric Dier for a few games, but the stand-in coach opted against using the Welshman.
Still, his performances for Wales do certainly illustrate that he’s got a bright future, as King said.
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