Tottenham Hotspur has one of the best academy set ups in the country and has produced some brilliant players in recent years.
It is a club that always has time to offer their young talent a chance to break into the first team through the early rounds of competitions like the FA Cup and Europa League, with Harry Kane the most obvious example of a player to have taken advantage of such opportunities.
Players like Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb are also great examples of young talented players who have broken the barrier and established themselves in the Tottenham first team in recent years, and after scouting the Spurs XI vs Peterborough friendly last week, Charlie Russell looks at the possible Spurs youngsters who could be next in line to break into Mauricio Pochettino’s first team.
Milos Velkjovic
Veljkovic is a FIFA Under-20 World Cup winner with Serbia. The six-foot defender made his Premier League debut in 2011 when he replaced Paulinho in the 88th minute against Sunderland then made his second appearance against Aston Villa as a 62nd minute replacement for Sandro. He has also appeared for Spurs in the Europa League, a competition where the club have always been proud to showcase their young talent. Velkjovic then went onto spend three months on loan at Championship side Middlesbrough where he went onto make four appearances, before a further loan spell at Charlton Athletic.
Veljkovic has the ability to break into the first team, but with the signing of Toby Alderweireld chances may come short. The Europa League will be brilliant in order to slowly introduce Veljkovic into Pochettino’s system, and with the defender approaching 20, time is on his side. The fact he is capped at Under-17, Under-18, Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 level by Serbia proves there is talent in the lofty centre half, and there are a number of rumours that Veljkovic could soon earn a senior call-up for Switzerland.
Dominic Ball
After an impressive performance against Peterborough, I feel there are big things to come from the centre-half. Ball was been capped at Under-16, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 levels by Northern Ireland before later switching international allegiance to England for whom he has earnt Under-19 and Under-20 caps for. The towering centre back has already been named on the bench in a 2–2 UEFA Europa League away draw against Benfica and was also an unused substitute in two further first-team fixtures – a 1–0 home win against Partizan and a 2–1 away win against Hull City.
Ball is in an identical situation to fellow defender Veljkovic in the sense that he has already played at a number of international levels and is only 19-years-old. He was sent out on loan to Cambridge where he got a number of appearances under his belt, and like Veljkovic, the Europa League and other cup competitions may play an important part when it comes to access to first-team football.
Grant Hall
Hall is the development squad’s captain and played very well alongside fellow defender Ball when Spurs XI took the trip to London Road last week. If anyone is going to make the first team soon then Hall has the best chances of doing so. He has already established himself as a strong centre-half and has had loan spells at Swindon, Birmingham and Blackpool. The spell at Swindon was where Hall impressed the most, making 34 appearances for the Robins with 27 of those being starts.
Again, the fact that Spurs have a number of big name defenders has already limited Hall’s chances, but with the departure of Younes Kaboul, this could be the chance for Hall’s chance to follow in Harry Kane’s footsteps and make himself a household name.
One thing I am definitely looking forward to is seeing the partnership of Hall and Ball. The pair are gifted with height, and from what I saw at London Road, they both know how to run and motivate their fellow team mates.
Joshua Onomah
Onomah captained the Spurs development squad during their 2014-2015 FA Youth Cup run in which they reached the Semi-Finals. The midfielder was a regular for Tottenham Under-21s last season and made his first team debut against Burnley in the FA Cup third round replay in January.
The England U18 has made a number of appearances on the first team bench over the past season and toured with the first team on trips to Australia and Malaysia during pre-season. He was also part of the Young Lions side who won the 2014 European Under-17 Championships in Malta.
The attacking midfielder may be seen during Tottenham’s European campaign as we saw with Tom Carroll and Alex Pritchard in previous years, but he is wanted by a number of clubs. I’m sure if he gets time under his belt at White Hart Lane, then the England U18s star will be convinced to stay.
Harry Winks
Harry Winks has already made his first team debut, coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 Europa League group stage win over Partizan Belgrade. The central midfielder is highly rated and has also represented England at U17, U18 and U19 level. Winks has also trained with the first team on a regular basis and been an unused subsitute in severall Premier League matches.
Winks will look to follow in the footsteps of Bentaleb and Mason by breaking into the first team after an impressive spell in the development squad, and with the player contracted until 2018, there is still time for the midfielder to break his way into Pochettino’s side. Winks is the sort of player to come into the first team and play a similar role to that of Scott Parker a few years ago. His determination will make him a very high quality footballer.
