German youngster impressing Spurs coach.
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Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has played down rumours that the club could look to sell young midfielder Lewis Holtby just a year after signing him, according to talkSPORT.
The 23-year-old German international joined Spurs last January after a highly impressive spell in the Bundesliga with Schalke, though the half-English midfielder fulfilled a dream by playing for a top Premier League side.
Still, with first-team opportunities looking limited at White Hart Lane, particularly with so many new signings arriving this summer, it was thought that Holtby may be allowed to leave the north London side for a return to Schalke, with Inter Milan and Roma also said to be monitoring his situation.
However, the skillful playmaker has been involved a little more of late, and has impressed his manager with his performances alongside the club’s expensive new recruits.
“There are more opportunities for Holtby. Last season we were playing differently with two strikers, so that left him with fewer possibilities and whenever he came in he had to play off the channels,” Villas-Boas said.
“This season because we are playing with three in the middle, he is showing the reasons why we bought him.”
Holtby has three caps for Germany though he could have been eligible to play for England, and had caught the eye of the likes of Arsenal and Everton before eventually joining Spurs for around £1.5m last January.
He makes up a long list of talented young midfielders at Tottenham at the moment, along with Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela and Gylfi Sigurdsson.