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Should Tottenham resigning academy prospect who achieved promotion into Premier League? – Opinion

Originally posted on To The Lane And Back
By Jainil Shah | Last updated Jun 22, 2025 5:40 PM ET

Daniel Levy has started a process, a process to ensure that Tottenham Hotspur are a side that is capable of competing in the Champions League on a consistent basis under Thomas Frank and in a way that the roster has that classy elegance about it, and this is where the 63-year-old club chairman is trying to collect high-potential talents at Tottenham and develop them through the corridors of Hotspur Way. But by the looks of it, the chiefs at N17 are also keeping a keen eye on the talents that left the academy and have finally arrived at their strides in men’s football, and that is where the North Londoners interest in Dennis Cirkin makes sense…

Dennis Cirkin is an Ireland-born former England U20 international who has been a former academy talent at N17 but is now drawing attention owing to his performances at Sunderland. In the recently concluded campaign, he was an integral part of the Regis Le Bris side, given his 39 appearances complemented by his three goals and two assists and helping the Black Cats into a promotion into the Premier League via playoffs.

And now the North Londoners are pursuing a move to bring him back to Tottenham as they look to create a strong squad going into the upcoming campaign. Moreover, with a sell-on clause already in place, any move back to Tottenham would also be a financially viable opportunity for the Lilywhites, complemented by the fact that he already knows the culture of the club, which makes him ideal to integrate into.

What does Cirkin bring to the table at Tottenham?

To start with the fact that his presence in the academy at Tottenham before he moved to Sunderland means that he will be recognised in a club-trained quota which meets UEFA criteria given that the North Londoners are set to play in the European top tier when the next season comes around.

Moreover, given that he has developed himself in the strenuous Championship, he should be ready for the pace and power of the Premier League, especially considering the fact that he is an athletic profile that brings stamina, pace and defensive discipline to the table, which he showed us across the last seasons at Sunderland.

Moreover, he would be an interesting competition to Udogie while also adding flexibility to the tactical attributes of the roster.

Strengths

As I said before, given that he qualifies as a club-trained player, he will be a regulatory asset for the minimum quota that Tottenham have to meet in the Premier League as well as the Champions League.

He gives you that proven performance ability in high-profile situations given how he played in some do-or-die games for Sunderland.

Weakness

We need to remember that there is a huge ramp up in quality from Championship into Premier League so it would be interesting to see how the 2000-born talent adapts into that.

Author Opinion

If you are to ask me, Tottenham have been linked with many left-backs in the past months, but there is something about bringing one of our own back to the club and watching him succeed donning that Lilywhites badge. So Daniel Levy and Thomas Frank should definitely be all over it if they believe that he has that capacity to adapt into what Tottenham want to build under the Dane head coach. And then there is that additional advantage of his presence fulfilling the UEFA squad rules.

This article first appeared on To The Lane And Back and was syndicated with permission.

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