Pundit suggests Spurs should look towards the Championship to replace Davinson Sanchez

Noel Whelan believes that Tottenham Hotspur should scour the Championship for a central defender to replace Davinson Sanchez this summer.

Sanchez has been a bit-part player under Antonio Conte and has struggled to get starts under his belt since Cristian Romero came back to full fitness.

Unsurprisingly, reports indicate that the Colombian is one of many players that Spurs are willing to cash in on during this summer’s transfer window (Evening Standard).

Tottenham have been linked with a whole host of centre-backs across Europe over the past couple of months (The Athletic) but more recently, some publications have suggested that Villarreal’s Pau Torres has emerged as the club’s first-choice target (Daily Mail).

It has been claimed that Villarreal will demand a transfer fee close to the 25-year-old’s buy out clause, which stands at £55m, with the North Londoners thought to be facing competition from the likes of Man United and Chelsea for the Spaniard (Fabrizio Romano).

Whelan believes there are much more economical centre-back options in the Championship who could improve the Spurs side.

The former Leeds forward told Football Insider: “It’s all about whether he can get players out as well. Are they wanting to keep Sanchez? Do they want to keep certain players or do they want to offload them?

“If you’re going to offload them, you’ve got that the expense there, the player’s wages, that you can use elsewhere. It might not be another £55million signing, but it might be a very competent centre-half.

“You might want to dip into the Championship. Try and get a good deal on one of the better players there that you can work with.

“There are many, many options and ways that things can happen. We know that Sanchez has never really been the player that he should have been when he signed for Tottenham.

“He’s never been in the side consistently, he’s been in and out and there have been mixed performances from him. We know what Conte’s like, he’s very ruthless. He’ll bring in who he wants and won’t be afraid to make changes.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Spurs will certainly be looking towards the Championship for young, up and coming players this summer, given that the club are close to the limit of their foreign player quota.

However, those sorts of players cannot be relied upon to walk into Tottenham’s starting eleven, and so, Conte will want to bring in established stars to fill priority positions like left centre-back.

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