Jose Mourinho ruins Tottenham’s scouting mission for highly-rated centre-back

Jose Mourinho has handed a small payback to Tottenham Hotspur for his sacking back in 2021, with the Portuguese coach’s selection decision over the weekend wrecking Spurs’ plan.

Yusuf Akcicek has emerged as one of the most highly rated young defenders in the Turkish top flight since breaking into the Fenerbahce side.

According to a new update, the 19-year-old centre-back is on Tottenham Hotspur’s radar, with the North London club keeping an eye on him ahead of his progress.

However, it has been revealed that the Premier League club’s efforts to run their rule over the teenager were ruined by Jose Mourinho over the weekend.

Jose Mourinho ruins Tottenham’s Yusuf Akcicek scouting mission

This update comes from The Mirror, who say that Tottenham have been impressed by Yusuf Akcicek and their scouts made the trip to Turkey to watch the player in action against Antalyaspor on Sunday.

However, even though the defender impressed in the recent derby clash with Galatasaray and Fenerbahce’s 4-1 Turkish Cup win over Gaziantep last week, he did not feature against Antalyaspor.

Mourinho dropped the promising young centre-back to the bench and he remained an unused substitute during the game, which meant Spurs’ scouting mission to Istanbul was entirely wasted.

However, the outlet makes it clear that Spurs are likely to continue their interest in Akcicek, with Ange Postecoglou’s men eyeing further defensive reinforcements in the summer.

Do Spurs need another centre-back?

While Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero’s injury record will be a concern for Spurs, Postecoglou also has Kevin Danso, Radu Dragusin and Ben Davies at his disposal, while Archie Gray has also performed admirably at centre-half.

That is why signing another central defender may not be at the top of the club’s priority list in the summer unless they are faced with the prospect of losing Romero.

The post Jose Mourinho ruins Tottenham’s scouting mission for highly-rated centre-back appeared first on Spurs Web.