Tottenham Hotspur have always been a club that gives young players a chance.
Today, Tom’s Frank features the likes of Archie Gray and Lukas Bergvall regularly, and as long as things turn around for Rangers, Mikey Moore is likely to feature more prominently next season.
Go back over a decade and it was a certain Harry Kane who was given the opportunity to lead the line under Mauricio Pochettino. Then, a few years later, Dele Alli was signed by MK Dons.
At his best, the former England international is a force of nature for Spurs and it’s early on, but the north Londoners look to have a different version of him on the books today.
What made Dele Alli special?
Unfortunately he has almost completely disappeared from football today, but it is impossible to overstate how special the player was at his peak.
For example, in his first season at the club, the Englishman was able to score an impressive tally of 10 goals and 10 assists in 46 appearances.
Such a return is impressive for a seasoned specialist, but it was incredible considering he was only 20 years old and had spent his previous campaign in League One.
Unsurprisingly, he was named PFA Young Player of the Year. This was his second award the following year after producing an out-of-this-world tally of 34 goal involvements in 50 appearances.
It sounds very simple, but it was this sensational ability, producing goals and assisting at an unimaginable rate for someone so young that made the Milton Keynes-born gem so special.
Dele’s Spurs Record | |
|---|---|
exterior | 269 |
minutes | 19162′ |
the goal | 67 |
assist | 58 |
Involvement of goals per match | 0.46 |
Minutes per goal involvement | 153.29′ |
All statistics via Transfer Market | |
He wasn’t necessarily the best passer in the game and could be lacking when on the defensive side of things at times, but he was a force of nature when it came to popping up at the right time to score or provide the final pass to someone else who put the ball in the back of the net.
So, unfortunately, everything starts to go wrong for the world-class talent when Goal’s involvement starts to dry up and while he may be back to his best, he is currently without a club.
In more positive news for Tottenham, they appear to have an academy gem that could potentially become their New Delhi in the coming years.
Meet Spurs New Delhi
There are a handful of really exciting prospects in the Spurs academy setup at the moment, but the one most likely to emulate Dele the best is Luca Williams-Barnett.
Despite being only 17 years old, the young man has been a real talking point for those in the know for some time. And when you look at his numbers in youth football, it’s easy to understand why.
For example, in just 23 appearances for a total of 1857 minutes last season, the Luton-born wonderkid scored 20 goals and provided 12 assists.
Then, this season he has mainly played for the U21s, although he still scored eight goals and provided five assists in nine youth team appearances.
In other words, the Lilywhite Young Phenom is already a goalscoring machine, but he’s also a reliable provider of assists. This helps justify analyst Ben Mattinson’s claim that he is “one of Britain’s best talents”.
Furthermore, the fact that he has already made his first team debut, combined with his ability to pop up left, right and centre, with goal involvement from a young age, is arguably reminiscent of Dele at his best.
Ultimately, it’s still incredibly early in Williams-Barnett’s career, but it’s impossible to ignore how talented he is already and his similarities to the Spurs’ former game-changer.