The exciting young American could the best available option at centre-back when Tottenham Hotspur return for pre-season training.
While Tottenham Hotspur’s three senior centre-backs continue their Euro 2016 adventures, the next in line for a place is recovering from the injury that ruled him out for the last few weeks of the season.
But when he does return to full fitness, Cameron Carter-Vickers may look at the current European Championships and wonder if he has ever had a better chance to impress his manager Mauricio Pochettino.
While Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen are Tottenham’s undisputed first-choice defensive pairing, and Kevin Wimmer has swiftly proved to be a more than able deputy, 18-year-old Carter-Vickers is the only other centre-back (if we ignore Federico Fazio and we probably should) that Pochettino is likely to call on next season.
Even Eric Dier, another option at the back, is currently playing for England at the same tournament, meaning Carter-Vickers can use the start of pre-season training to prove he is ready for the step up and potentially make his debut in the opening weeks of the campaign.
Whatever happens when the competitive domestic action kicks off, provided the young American is over his back injury he will surely play in the pre-season first-team fixtures, especially if Austria, Belgium and England make it to the latter stages of the European Championships.
There are a few ifs, buts and maybes here, but Carter-Vickers is ready for a first-team chance in some of Tottenham’s smaller games, and that chance could be right around the corner.
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