Tottenham Hotspur have had a fine start to the season.
After arguably enjoying the best transfer window of any Premier League club – signing the likes of Gareth Bale, Sergio Reguilon, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – the club have been turning in impressive performances on the pitch.
While they have lost to Everton and drawn with Newcastle, they thumped Southampton 5-2 and also thrashed Manchester United, winning 6-1 at Old Trafford in a historic result at the weekend.
They have also progressed to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup after a penalty shootout win over Chelsea, and are safely into the group stages of the Europa League after beating Maccabi Haifa 7-2. It’s fair to say they’ve scored a few goals along the way.
And it appears attention has now turned to safeguarding their young talent as they look to progress both on and off the pitch.
Football Insider reports that they have made a breakthrough in talks to extend the deal of Dennis Cirkin, the promising young left-back.
The 18-year-old signed professional terms for the first time in November but Spurs are set to tie him down for the foreseeable future.
There is a hope at the club that he will become a fixture in the senior squad eventually, and he has been on the bench in the Premier League, though he has yet to make his bow.
After Ryan Sessegnon was loaned out, Cirkin is the third-choice full-back at the club after summer signing Reguilon and Ben Davies, meaning he could well make his debut this season.
An England U17 international, Cirkin is already playing for the club’s U23 team, making nine appearances in total.
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
Cirkin is a promising talent and one has to feel that the next step should be a loan.
Tying him down is obviously the order of the day but moving him out in January, to a club where he can play regularly, perhaps in the lower-leagues, would be a good step.
He is an athletic, gifted full-back with the ability to both defend and attack, but he is unlikely to see all that many minutes under Mourinho this season.
Giving him the contract is obviously a show of faith, though, and a sign that he is in the manager’s plans.
Getting him playing week in, week out should be the next task.