Mauricio Pochettino has hailed Tottenham teenager Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham and Tottenham’s Cameron Carter Vickers in action
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has told ESPN that he thinks defender Cameron Carter-Vickers deserves to be in the starting line-up.
Spurs have been blessed with arguably the Premier League’s best central defensive partnership over the last year, with Belgian duo Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld rekindling their partnership from their time at Ajax.
Kevin Wimmer, who arrived from Koln last summer, has offered solid backup to Vertonghen as a left-footed central defender, but many expected Tottenham to bring in a right-footed centre back as cover for Alderweireld over the summer.
Juventus’ Paulo Dybala in action with Tottenham’s Cameron Carter Vickers
As the transfer deadline passed with no defender brought in, it had been suggested that Eric Dier could drop back in to play at centre back if needed, or even Victor Wanyama could do something similar – but manager Pochettino appears to have other ideas.
Throughout his managerial career and particularly at Spurs, Pochettino has been keen to develop young talent, with the likes of Dier, Dele Alli and Harry Kane all starring, whilst Marcus Edwards and Joshua Onomah are tipped for bright futures.
Now, Pochettino has told ESPN that he thinks defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is a player who could become a first-team player at White Hart Lane having clearly been impressed with him over pre-season.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
The Southend-born centre back joined the Spurs academy at the age of just eight, and has now come up through the ranks with the club whilst establishing himself as a top player for the United States youth teams, whom he qualifies for through father Howard Carter.
At just 18, Carter-Vickers has yet to make his competitive debut for Spurs but did feature against Juventus and Atletico Madrid in pre-season, whilst also being a substitute in all four Premier League games and Tuesday’s Champions League opener against Monaco.
It’s clear that Pochettino thinks highly of the American youngster, and he’s now told ESPN that Carter-Vickers deserves to start for Tottenham, with the teenager potentially the next big thing at White Hart Lane – and his comments even suggest that he’s leapfrogged Wimmer in the Spurs pecking order.
Tottenham’s Cameron Carter-Vickers in action with Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey
“I believe that Cameron is doing well,” Pochettino told a news conference. “If you watch the games against Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan again, I think he deserves to play in the starting XI.”
“He can give to the team better quality than another player. It’s for that [he’s named on the bench]. All my decisions are because I think a player can give more things than another player. It’s for that that I picked him on the bench,” he added.
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