Tottenham Hotspur have been warned not to end the transfer window without signing a recognised backup for one of their key players.Spurs have brought eight new players through the door, strengthening all three departments, but Roberto De Zerbi has hinted that the Lilywhites may be done in the transfer window just yet.The only area where Tottenham genuinely lack cover at the moment is at right-back, with the Lilywhites not replacing Djed Spence following his switch to Inter Milan.Archie Gray has featured in that role in Spurs’ clash against Brentford and Charlton, but reports indicate that De Zerbi’s men are still scouring the market for experienced right-back options.Photo by Alex Morton/Getty ImagesTottenham told to sign former Arsenal man as Pedro Porro’s understudyEuropean football expert Andy Brassell has now told Tottenham not to repeat the mistake they made during Harry Kane’s time at the club by not having a good enough backup for the striker, thus forcing him to play almost every game.He believes that Spurs need a reliable alternative to Porro, and suggested that former Arsenal defender Ainsley Maitland-Niles may be the perfect option for De Zerbi’s side.Brassell told talkSPORT: “The problem is, and Spurs have been here before with Harry Kane, there are certain players it’s really, really hard to back up. You’re talking about someone who would be backing up Pedro Porro, essentially, aren’t you? Pedro Porro is not only the right-back for the world champions, but he’s going through a brilliant time at the moment. He’s been fantastic. He’s relentlessly available.“So, really, I think you’re looking at someone who can play right-back and centre-back, really, or right-back and a different position. I think there are two players that spring to mind because it’s not going to be an enormous name; Who is going to Spurs to back up Pedro Porro? Like, no elite player is going there to do that. And it is the Harry Kane scenario. How do you back up a guy who never rests, never wants to rest, 98 per cent of the time does not need to rest? I think that’s quite a difficult sell, really.“So, you’re looking for a player of a particular profile. It’s very similar to the Achraf Hakimi situation at PSG, where Luis Enrique’s stance on it is that we can’t get anyone who’s as good as him. We can’t get anyone who can genuinely replace him. So, if he’s out, if he’s ever out, we’ll just replace him with a midfielder, Warren Zaïre-Emery.“So, Tottenham are going to have to think around this a little bit. I wonder, now this is slightly sacrilegious maybe, but I wonder if Ainsley Maitland-Niles would be quite a good fit, despite the Arsenal past. He has not had a relentlessly brilliant time at Lyon. At the beginning, under Laurent Blanc and Fabio Grosso, he couldn’t really get a game.“[He] developed really well under Pierre Sage, which is why you’ve got the Crystal Palace interest in him. He is someone who Sage really appreciates. He has only got a year left on his contract, but we know he is someone who can play in midfield as well. He is a full-back who, as you say, is different to Porro. He sort of makes runs into midfield from the right-back position. I still think defensively he’s a little bit fallible at times, but I think he’d be a really interesting player for that position.”Another Lyon man also recommended to SpursMaitland-Niles may not be the only Lyon player capable of fixing Tottenham’s glaring issue at right-back, according to Brassell.He suggested that the experienced Clinton Mata may also be gettable for the Lilywhites if they want to add a defensively sound full-back option to their squad.Brassell added: “One of his teammates, actually, if you’re looking for someone who’s more defensively sound, is Clinton Mata, who recently signed a new contract at Lyon. But Lyon is Lyon; everyone is sellable, basically. I think he’s someone who speaks excellent English, a great leader in the dressing room.“All his teammates love him. Experienced at Champions League level as well with Club Brugge. Someone who is athletic enough to play right-back and arrived at Lyon as a right-back but can play centre-back very easily as well. Just a really smart defender. So, for two different profiles, two different teammates.”READ MORE: Tottenham and Chelsea eye Jonathan Jesus transfer after £6.9m bid was turned downThe post Tottenham told to make ‘sacrilegious’ move for Arsenal academy graduate midfielder appeared first on Spurs Web.