Despite Jose Mourinho’s purported reluctance to place his trust in youth, it seems like Tottenham are very much interested in bringing in one of European football’s brightest talents to north London this summer.
Football.London journalist Alasdair Gold recently revealed that Spurs “certainly like” Ajax starlet Sergino Dest, and that he “wouldn’t be surprised if they look at whether he’s viable financially this summer”, further adding that Spanish giants Barcelona are also interested in him.
And even at just 19-years-old, it’s clear to see why Mourinho’s side would be so interested in luring Dest away from the Netherlands. The teenager was an ever-present for Ajax in the Eredivisie, and registered an impressive record of five assists in just 20 league games.
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Right-back is a major area of concern for Spurs given that Serge Aurier continues to be a liability with his defensive howlers and giving away of penalties, and also the very fact that they let Kyle Walker-Peters go on loan to Southampton in January.
But in Dest, Mourinho could transform Spurs’ future by landing a starlet that could go on to dominate the position for most of the next decade.
And when you look at the kind of praise and accolades he has already got in his fledgling career, then it just makes the case for Spurs to sign him this summer even stronger.
According to his Ajax teammate Quincy Promes, Dest is a “big talent“, and those thoughts were echoed by his manager, Erik ten Hag. Speaking after the American won the club’s young player of the year award, he said to the full-back: “You came like a comet. You played a lot of games in Ajax 1, including in the Champions League. You showed your potential. This is well deserved.”
With Spurs already boasting one talented attacking full-back in Ryan Sessegnon, the north London side stand to boast an impressive future if they can bring in Dest.
Sessegnon can maraud up and down the left-flank, whilst Dest does the same from the right-hand side. The Lilywhites could quite reasonably argue that they have the best up-and-coming full-back combination in the Premier League, and Mourinho could help develop the duo and put to bed any notion that he doesn’t develop young players.
