The aloofness of the spare player? (7)
I believe the answer is:
reserve
I believe this clue is a triple definition!
'the aloofness' is the first definition.
(thesaurus)
'of' is a link.
'the spare' is the second definition.
(I've seen this before)
'player?' is the third definition.
(I've seen this before)
(Other definitions for reserve that I've seen before include "Modesty- store" , "8 [RESTRAINT]" , "left on the bench?" , "Husband - substitute" , "cool" .)