Tottenham Hotspur sold academy graduate Tom Carroll to Premier League strugglers Swansea City in the winter transfer window.
The 24-year old had struggled for game time this season with Victor Wanyama, Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier the preferred personnel in the middle of the park. And with the emergence of another academy product, Harry Winks ahead of him in the pecking order, the club decided to cash in on the player.
But seeing the way Carroll has been performing with the Swans, Tottenham have been left pondering if they were hasty in getting rid of the midfielder.
From being frozen out of the squad at White Hart Lane, Carroll has hit red-hot form at the Liberty Stadium. The Englishman has made a huge impact since joining the Welsh outfit. Carroll has been one of the chief architects of the revival that has been going on at the Liberty Stadium under new manager Paul Clement.
The 24-year old has been trusted heavily by the manager and seems to be feeding off that confidence and trust, turning it into one eye-catching displays one after the other. Carroll has started all the six games that he has been available for selection for the Swans and has played crucial roles in the wins over top four side Liverpool, last year’s champions Leicester City, EFL Cup finalists Southampton and one of the best teams at home in the league, Burnley.
In those appearances, Carroll may have not scored a goal, but has laid on two assists and has in total created five goal-scoring opportunities. He has great tenacity and energy in the middle of the park, having won close to 60% of his tackles and made 7 interceptions so far. He is equally confident going forward and has successfully completed 75% of his attempted take-ons, thus displaying his natural ability with the ball at his feet.
Having spent a spell on loan with Swansea two years ago, during which he enjoyed decent amount of success, he has looked comfortable and extremely at ease in his short time this time around, demonstrating the fact that he has what it takes to excel at the top level.
Spurs have lost Gylfi Sigurdsson to Swansea before and the Iceland international has emerged as one of the most consistent performers in England over the years. However, Tottenham have no shortage of riches in the midfield area and young Harry Winks looks like a great prospect for the future.
But they might be left ruing the fact that they let go of a player who has shown he has the potential to become a star midfielder over the coming years.
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