Speaking on a recent episode of the Last Word On Spurs podcast, John Wenham discussed the recent omission of Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Davinson Sanchez from Jose Mourinho’s recent first-team squads.
Since moving to Spurs from Ajax in what was a £37.8 million deal back in 2017, Sanchez has so far gone on to feature 126 times for the club, chipping in with one goal and providing one assist along the way.
However, after starting four consecutive Premier League games until the club’s 1-0 win over Burnley back in October, the £40.5 million-rated 24-year-old has not been included in any of Mourinho’s Premier League matchday squads since.
His last appearance in the Premier League came in the club’s 3-3 draw with West Ham United, in which, after leading the game 3-0 until the 82nd minute, Tottenham conceded three goals in the dying moments of the fixture, one of which was an own goal scored by Sanchez.
The Colombia international’s recent absences from the Spurs side were one topic of conversation on a recent episode of the Last Word On Spurs podcast, in which Wenham issued a worrying prediction for the centre-back.
He said: “I think it’s quite telling, really, especially the centre-half situation, I think we’re now seeing [Mourinho’s] preferred first two [centre-backs]. It seemed at the start of the season that Sanchez was going to be one of those two, but it seems like the West Ham game, aligned with some pretty dodgy form, has put the nail in the coffin for Davinson Sanchez at the moment, and we’ve not seen him feature in three consecutive games.
“It seems a long way back now, considering that [Joe] Rodon is always on the bench [and] we’ve got [Japhet] Tanganga coming back to full fitness.
“I do worry a bit about Sanchez. Since we signed him, the first 18 months, for me, he was excellent, but that may have been [down to] playing alongside a peak Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld at the prime of their powers. He cost a lot of money, he was over £40 million, and I’m not really seeing the value in that in his performances when he plays. So, it’ll be an interesting one, what happens with him.”
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TIF Thoughts on John Wenham’s comments regarding Davinson Sanchez…
From Wenham’s comments, it is clear that the podcaster feels it will be a hard task for Sanchez to get himself back into Mourinho’s Premier League plans, as he feels the defender has not performed overly well this season, which has resulted in him falling behind Joe Rodon, Eric Dier and Toby Alderweireld in the centre-back pecking order.
And considering the defender has averaged a disappointing WhoScored match rating of 6.53/10 over his four appearances in the Premier League so far this season – ranking him as the club’s 14th-best player in the competition – perhaps it is not surprising to see him being left out of Mourinho’s recent squads in the league.