Town show interest in teenage Hotspur
TOWN are said to be looking at Tottenham Hotspur defender Jaden Brown as a potential January transfer window target.
The 19-year-old left-sided player is out of contract in the summer and has been unable to find a place in Mauricio Pochettino’s senior side this season.
Town and Newcastle United are reported to be interested in his signature, but Rangers are believed to be favourites to snap up the speedy player, who is an England age-group cap and can cover at centre-back if required.
David Wagner, of course, is not short of options on the left side of defence or midfield, with Chris Lowe, Erik Durm and Terence Kongolo all playing with great credit down that flank this season.
Club captain Tommy Smith – now injured – and Flo Hadergjonaj are also adaptable enough to play down the left, while from the wing department he has Rajiv van La Parra, Ramadan Sobhi, Isaac Mbenza, Adama Diakhaby, Collin Quaner and Elias Kachunga who have all played there at one time or another.
Brown, however, is seen as a huge talent ready to step into regular first-team action after making just three senior appearances this season – all for Spurs’ U21s in the Football League Trophy.
In September, he started in the 1-1 draw against Crawley, then scored in October when Spurs defeated Gillingham 4-0 at Priestfield Stadium, again playing the whole 90 minutes.
His last appearance competition was in November, when Spurs lost 3-2 at Portsmouth. It is suggested Tottenham will be ready to sell in January, rather than let the player leave for nothing next summer, hence the reported interest from Town, Newcastle and Steven Gerrard at Rangers. On Tottenham’s own player profile, it says: “Jaden Brown is a defensively-solid left-back who can also get forward effectively.
Jaden Brown is a defensively solid left-back who can also get forward
“A high point in his 2017-18 season arrived in November, 2017, when he scored a fine goal in our 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund U19s in Germany during an excellent run in the UEFA Youth League.
“He played four times in that competition overall during that season while featuring 17 times for the U23s in the Premier League 2.
“Born and raised in Lewisham, Jaden was a student at Harris Academy. Comfortable on the left side of a back four, he can also fill in at centre-half when required.
“He started seven games for our U18s in 2014-15, his debut coming in a 3-0 win at Brighton in January, 2015, while he also featured in our squad which won the South Korea Cup. He made 19 league appearances for our U18s in 2015-16, some of them as captain, and scored in a 2-1 home win over West Ham in November, 2015. He also started both of our games in the FA Youth Cup during that campaign.
“He scored once in 14 appearances in the U18 Premier League in 2016-17, in addition to hitting the target against Stevenage in round three of our run to the FA Youth Cup semi-finals, which saw him make two substitute appearances.
“At international level, he was part of the England U16s squad that won the Montaigu Tournament in April, 2015.”