Tottenham are searching for the right midfield partner for Tanguy Ndombele. It could turn out that Oliver Skipp is the right choice to fill the role.
The summer transfer window is over, but Daniel Levy still has a lot of business left to do at Tottenham. He needs to ink a number of first team stars to new contracts in the coming weeks. Spurs fans shouldn’t be surprised of Oliver Skipp turns out to be one of the first players to commit his long-term future to the North London Club.
Football London report that Skipp only has two years left on his current deal and they suggest he may be offered fresh terms in the coming days. The 18-year-old midfielder has only played two minutes in two Premier League appearances on the current campaign, but it’s obvious that he is a player Mauricio Pochettino trusts.
The natural question to examine is just how far Skipp can progress in the near future. Admittedly, there’s a lot of competition for playing time in Pochettino’s midfield after the club’s big-money purchase of Tanguy Ndombele this summer. Moussa Sissoko and Harry Winks have gotten the lion’s share of playing time next to the talented young Frenchman thus far. Victor-Wanyama?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-” onclick=”sr_record_analytics_event(‘newsfeed_click’,”, sr_record_directory(),’sr_tracker’);”>Victor Wanyama and Eric Dier are also options, but neither is clearly ahead of Skipp in Pochettino’s eyes at the moment.
The challenge for Skipp will be to move ahead of either Winks or Sissoko. It’s unlikely he can accomplish that feat this season, but it’s not impossible. The young Englishman offers something significantly different than either midfielder.
Stylistically, he’s much more similar to his fellow Englishman. Both he and Winks do a nice job of screening the back four despite their lack of elite size or athleticism. Skipp does, however, do a better job of using his body to battle opposing attackers. If he continues to grow and develop his body he could widen his advantage over Winks in that regard.
Winks is also much more likely to play an incisive pass forward than Winks. That quality could prove attractive to Pochettino when he’s faced with opponents who park the bus against Spurs. For the moment Winks is well ahead of Skipp, but that gap could easily close as the season rolls along.
It may be more difficult for Skipp to supplant Sissoko. While he’s absolutely the better decision maker of the two, he lacks the ability to carry the ball forward like the veteran Frenchman. Time, however, is on Skipp’s side in this battle. The 18-year-old has plenty of time to take minutes away from the 30-year old in this battle.
Ultimately, Tottenham officials can afford to be very patient with Skipp’s development. They should, however, move quickly to tie up his long-term future. He may never be a Premier League star, but he’s got a great chance to positively impact the Spurs squad for years to come.