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DONE DEAL: Alfie Devine will be loaned to Plymouth Argyle.

I won’t dwell on this because it’s essentially confirmation of previously known information rather than NEWS: Tottenham Hotspur has officially declared that young offensive midfielder Alfie Devine has signed a one-year loan to Championship team Plymouth Argyle, which will run until the end of the current campaign.
Just after Spurs announced that they had ended Alfie’s season-long loan at League One club Port Vale, Matty blogged about this story this morning. That’s quite cool that they’re sending him back out on loan, but up a division, because it shows that they recognize he’s been doing well on loan and is prepared for a step up in difficulty.

Alfie has been acting like a house on fire at Port Vale, from what I’ve heard, but he has primarily been used as an eight. That’s all well and well, but it’s suggested that he may receive minutes at the ten, which is his ideal position, at Plymouth. Since Alfie already has a friend and someone he knows at Spurs in Ashley Phillips, the center defender is now on loan at Plymouth.

In addition, he will be playing under a management who is familiar with him and is aware of his potential contributions to Plymouth. As part of the England junior setup, Ian Forster worked with Alfie, and it sounds like Foster has great hopes for Devine when he gets here.
“One player that I truly know well is Alfie. Alfie and I went back to our Wigan days when I worked for the FA. At Wigan, a large number of players passed through the pathway.

“Alfie played a year ahead of schedule when I was picking him for England teams, so you can see how confident I am in both his talent and character. Given what I know about the player and the person, it made perfect sense to bring him here.

“I am aware of his talent and diligence, and it provides me with a slight advantage as he is familiar with the role and the specific tasks I will be assigning him. He is an extremely adaptable attacking midfielder. He is capable of playing both the deeper role and advanced midfield duties. He is a threat on offense and has the ability to handle the ball under duress in confined spaces. It’s a fantastic asset to have someone like him who can fill in at various places.

I think all of this sounds pretty damn good. Devine appears to be the Spurs young player most likely to make an impact on the first team over the course of the next few years. He can use this as a good gauge to see if he can have an influence in the second division. Alfie, go grab ’em.