How Middlesbrough signed Tottenham's Ashley Phillips

There, he's greeted by a familiar face - that of Tony Mowbray, his first boss at Blackburn Rovers.

It was five years ago last month that Mowbray first included Phillips, then just 16, in his matchday squad for a game at Boro.

Phillips had only signed scholarships terms that summer but Mowbray knows a talent when he sees one, especially in the position where he used to play.

“He’s an amazing footballer and he is going to be a mega footballer I’m pretty sure," said Mowbray at the time.

"But he’s a very young boy. He’s a 6’3, 6’4 magnificent cut of a guy, fast as lightning, composed with the ball, aggressive. I think this football club have a footballer on their hands."

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It's now Middlesbrough who have the gifted defender on their hands after his permanent move from Tottenham was finalised last week.

He won't feature at Ewood Park on Saturday, with Kim Hellberg and Boro's coaching team instead keen to work on the defender's fitness given he hasn't benefited from a full pre-season. But as Hellberg said in his press conference on Thursday: "He will be a very good player for us."

This is a signing that thrilled Boro officials, who worked extremely hard to win the fiercely competitive battle for Phillips' signature this summer.

Phillips only turned 21 in the summer but he's already played more than 100 Championship games. He arrives with that quite rare combination of rich experience for his age but with his best years clearly ahead of him.

Boro's recruitment officials tracked Phillips for years.

Head of recruitment Chris Jones was working at Crystal Palace when he first got wind of Phillips and started watching him. Palace tried to sign the teenage defender but were beaten to it by Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

He actually almost joined Spurs the summer earlier but it's understood he instead decided he was better off staying at Blackburn and benefiting from being around the first team. He made 14 appearances that season.

When Phillips finally joined Tottenham, then-boss Ange Postecoglou was asked whether he would have any reservations about playing the young defender in the Premier League.

"No, that is why we signed him - we think he has great potential," he replied.

It was decided he'd be better off heading out on loan and Phillips linked up with Plymouth, where he had something of a tough spell but learnt an awful lot.

By this point, Boro - and Jones in particular - were watching closely. That continued into the 2024/25 season after Phillips had linked up with Stoke and the scouting is understood to have really ramped up last term when he signed for the Potters on a second loan spell.

Jones is understood to have watched Phillips live on a number of occasions and the defender was also studied on Wyscout. Chief scout Ian Breckin also watched Phillips live, as did former Boro defender and now loan manager Tommy Smith.

They were all in agreement - as was long-term admirer Kieran Scott, Boro's head of football - about Phillips' qualities and "high ceiling".

It was noted that Stoke had one of the best defensive records in the league outside the top three, even with goalkeeper Viktor Johansson out injured for a spell.

Phillips' presence stood out to observers, so too his ability to win aerial duels. And his pace was another admired attribute. He's comfortable playing in a high defensive line as is the preference of his new boss Hellberg.

Boro's recruitment officials received extremely positive character references and were struck by how humble Phillips was when they met him. It was also noted how much he listened. Phillips had plenty of options this summer and in discussions with Boro officials he was taking in what was said before reacting.

His reliability was another big box ticked. Phillips made 39 appearances two seasons ago and 44 last term. Despite his age, he's proven over a number of seasons.

“He will have played 70-odd games for us and just short of one hundred games in the Championship, which for his age is some doing," said Stoke boss Mark Robins at the end of last season.

It wasn't clear whether Tottenham would look for another loan or sanction a permanent move this summer. The fact they decided on the latter was described by one Boro source as a "gift from the gods".

Ahead of the final game of Stoke's season last term, Robins described Phillips as "one of the best loan players I've ever had"

“Ash, in terms of his availability and in terms of his robustness, desire and commitment to Stoke City, it has been second to none. He is a top, top individual," said Robins.

“He is so low maintenance and that’s exactly what you want. He’s available all the time. His level of performance has always been high and he’s a young player learning. It’s been a really successful couple of seasons for him.”

Pete Smith, who covers Stoke for the Stoke Sentinel, has seen Phillips progress and improve over the last couple of years.

"He’s a terrific build, strong and athletic and there is so much obvious potential as he learns to use that and his experience to become dominant defensively," Smith tells the Northern Echo.

"He has it within himself to be a huge presence at the back as he develops his confidence and aura."

In response to Robins' high praise for Phillips, Smith said: "He could hang his hat on him in terms of consistency: always available and a 100 per-center in his approach.

"He was a loan player who played for the badge and had a brilliant relationship with supporters. He’ll get a warm reception when he comes back to the Potteries in a couple of months and there are plenty of people who will wish he’d been one of Stoke’s own."

What can Phillips go on to achieve?

"Who knows. He’s already passed a century of appearances at this level by 21 and he’ll benefit from another year of playing regularly, probably in a different environment too," says Smith.

"He’s got the physical attributes to be at the top and has the attitude to want to learn and develop his game as much and as quickly as possible.

"He had elements in his game that were reminiscent of Ryan Shawcross, who is first team coach at Stoke these days and took Phillips under his wing. He’s come on a lot in the last two years but he’s not the finished product by any means. It will be interesting to see how he comes through that next phase of development."

Smith continued: "Boro seems like a good move for the player. He’ll get a chance to play regularly at a team that should be at the top end of the division, which is clearly a step up, and from there hopefully get his chance to play in the Premier League.

"If there are weaknesses, there is nothing that can’t be worked on. He can be better in the air in terms of how he wins headers. In an interview in the spring we discussed not just that he hadn’t scored for Stoke but that he hadn’t scored more than five in a season, which he should be doing from set pieces.

"His decision making and ability on the ball will be worked on at Boro as well. He got trapped sometimes at Stoke into sideways play but he should benefit from having better movement and better players ahead of him."