Tottenham Hotspur have made quite a name for themselves in the past couple of years when it comes to signing exciting young players and giving them a chance.
For instance, the likes of Pape Matar Sarr and Destiny Udogie have gone from relative unknowns on these shores to becoming Premier League stars.
Admittedly, Tottenham haven’t been quite so impressive in terms of bringing players through from the academy in recent years, but things may be changing.
Pre-season saw Ange Postecoglou make use of several homegrown stars, such as Will Lankshear, Alfie Devine and Jamie Donley, all of whom did well.
And over the past few weeks, Mikey Moore has made a huge name for himself, the 17-year-old looking superb when coming on in senior games.
Now, Postecoglou has made an exciting admission about the Tottenham academy in wake of Moore’s first-team breakthrough.
Ange Postecoglou says there are ‘others’ in Tottenham academy with bright futures
Postecoglou, speaking to football.london on Friday, said the Spurs academy has several talented youngsters who are “starting to make some inroads”.
In addition, the Tottenham boss suggested he’s keen on continuing to give youth a chance, saying a club’s successful period is “more sustainable” when supplemented by young players.
“Players develop differently so you keep an open mind,” said Postecoglou, as he discussed Moore’s rise to prominance.
“There’s no doubt when we brought Mikey up last year and he played a couple of times in the Under-21s, he stood out.
“Simon Davies and the guys in the academy were really strong about his potential, how he trains, his behaviour.
“As soon as he came into the training environment he showed no fear and that was the first thing you kinda noticed. He settled in really well. With others you think they probably need more time.
“There’s some others in there. In pre-season he was always a stand out for us. There are some others in there, some young boys who are starting to make some inroads, some a bit younger around the 15/16 age group.
“If you go through a successful period it’s more sustainable if you’ve got players at the club coming through.”
Postecoglou keen to give youth a chance
For years, Tottenham haven’t really made the most of their academy, which culminated in the almost farcical scenario when it came to the Europa League squad selection.
However, things are changing under Postecoglou. He has built up a reputation of unearthing hidden gems, but he’s also known for being keen on giving youth a chance.
It’ll be exciting to see how Moore continues to develop alongside the likes of Lankshear, Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert.
And then, in the coming years, hopefully we’ll see players currently impressing in the youth ranks come through and make names for themselves too.
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