Ange Postecoglou is confident in the 18-year-old defender to fill in for Spurs center back Eric Dier while he is out injured.
Ange Postecoglou, the head coach of Spurs, is prepared to put his faith in the youngster Ashley Phillips to step up as a result of Tottenham selling Davinson Sanchez to Galatasaray.
On Monday night, Sanchez signed a permanent contract with the current Turkish champions for little less than £12.8 million. Tanguy Ndombele, a teammate from Tottenham, also traveled to Istanbul on a season-long loan with a $12.8 million buy option.
Both players joined Galatasaray in time to be part of their Champions League group-stage roster.
Under Postecoglou, Sanchez started the season as the third-choice center-back for Spurs. He then came off the bench in the opening-day tie at Brentford before starting and missing a penalty shootout in the Carabao Cup second-round loss to Fulham.
Summer signing Phillips was on the bench against Burnley at the weekend and could potentially serve as center-back cover, along with Ben Davies, until at least January. Eric Dier has yet to be named to a single matchday squad under the Australian.
Phillips, 18, joined Spurs in July for £3 million from Blackburn, where he appeared eight times in the Championship last season. Despite also playing for the Under-21 squad, Phillips has been training full-time with the first team.
Despite being highly regarded, the England U19 international may now be forced to play right center-back if Cristian Romero gets hurt, unless Postecoglou sends Dier back from the sidelines.
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