Opinion: Dennis Cirkin’s difficult road to the Tottenham first-team

18-year-old Dennis Cirkin has a difficult road ahead of him to become a part of Mourinho’s first-team plans.

Currently the Portuguese head coach’s fourth-choice left-back at the club, behind Ben Davies, Sergio Reguilón, and arguably Ryan Sessegnon, the English defender has quite a few obstacles to overcome before he becomes a mainstay in the first team.

A highly-rated member of Spurs academy, Cirkin made his non-competitive Spurs debut in a 2020 preseason friendly. This season, Cirkin has found himself a crucial part of Spurs’ successful U23/Premier League 2 team (TransferMarkt).

Mourinho himself said Cirkin was ‘a kid with a lot of quality’ in an interview back in November 2019 (Football.London).

As Ben Davies will be 28 at the end of the season, the Welshman will most likely be on his way out of the club in one of the next few transfer windows. Either that, or he could transition into a left-sided centre-back for the club.

This would leave Cirkin to compete with Reguilon and Sessegnon, both under 25 and regarded as two of the most promising attacking left-backs in Europe.

The best outcome for Cirkin right now would be for Real Madrid to sign Reguilon back from Spurs using their buyback clause that was inserted into the deal when Spurs originally signed the Spaniard (Football London).

Another beneficial situation for Cirkin would be for Sessegnon to return to his original position of left-winger, opening up a space for the Irishman to play as Reguilo’s understudy.

Of course, Cirkin also has the option to prove himself a better player than one or both of Reguilon and Sessegnon, which would be quite the stunning feat. Only time will tell what the 18-year old’s future has in store at Spurs.

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