Cristian Stellini has confirmed that Tottenham youngster Alfie Devine now trains with the first-team squad on a full-time basis. Moving to north London from Wigan Athletic in July 2020, the talented midfielder has made a huge impression in his short time in the capital.
Netting a goal on his senior debut for the club as he came off the bench in their FA Cup tie away at non-league side Marine, the 18-year-old has made the matchday squad on a handful of occasions since then. Devine was part of the squad for last Tuesday's Champions League defeat away at AC Milan with Antonio Conte short on midfielders at present.
A regular on the training pitch at Hotspur Way, Stellini was asked by football.london if the Warrington-born ace is now a fully fledged member of the first-team squad rather than just splitting his time between them and the Under-21s.
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"Since we have lost [Yves] Bissouma and [Rodrigo] Bentancur, Alfie Devine is part of the squad completely 100 per cent," revealed the Italian. "He train every day with us. Sometime we let him go to play with the Under-21s because he needs to play.
"He is a young player and we want him to feel ready to play a game. If you don't live the possibility to play a match, they lose the power and young players need to play many, many games."
Asked how good he can be, Stellini added: "He has the quality, he has power in his mind. Mentally he is a good player because he train every day completely at our level."
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