Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tom Carroll faces a make or break month at Swansea City.
For Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Tom Carroll, this January could be the biggest month of his career.
The youngster, who is currently on loan to Swansea City, is set to be handed his opportunity to impress in the Premier League and he will be determined to seize it.
Carroll signed for Swansea this summer in the hope of getting regular first-team action, but he has struggled for appearances so far.
Although the central midfielder has made a handful of starts, he has never cemented his position in the first team, but he should have a chance to do just that in the coming weeks.
With Ki Sung-yueng, Swansea’s main man in central midfield, heading off to the Asian Cup with South Korea, Carroll is likely to be given a succession of starts and his short-term and long-term future could be decided by how he performs.
A good run of form at Swansea is likely to mean that he continues to be selected as the season progresses, while it may also convince Spurs that he has a role at White Hart Lane.
Carroll, from afar, has watched on as Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason have jumped ahead of him in the selection order at Spurs and he will now be looking to prove that he can have a similar impact at the top level.
The 22-year-old is diminutive in stature, but his technical ability means that he has impressed at youth levels for Spurs.
However, he is yet to make the breakthrough in North London and there is a feeling that time is starting to run out for the England youth international.
A sustained period of excellence will highlight what Tottenham are missing, though, and January 2015 may be the month that defines Carroll’s career.
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