The Athletic continues its weekly search for the most exciting prospects coming through club academies with a trip to Leicester City to watch Tottenham Hotspur’s under-21s, who have made a fine start to the season.
In the same way Thomas Frank’s senior side have been prolific scorers in the top flight to date this term, Wayne Burnett’s under-21s are the Premier League 2 top scorers, thanks largely to their 6-3 victory at Leicester’s Seagrave training ground.
There were plenty of impressive displays that night, but one young player stood out with a dazzling first-half showing.
It is not often that a pre-match plan comes together so perfectly, but The Athletic was there mainly to watch one young player who did not fail to deliver — and was rewarded with a senior call-up a few days later.
The player
Player: Luca Williams-Barnett
Club: Tottenham Hotspur
Date of birth: October 1, 2008 (16)
Position: Attacking midfield
The backstory
Williams-Barnett has been in the Tottenham academy since the age of 10 having begun his football education at hometown club Luton Town.
Having long been considered a strong prospect for the first team, his progress through the youth ranks has been accelerated in recent seasons. He was an unused substitute for the Europa League matches against Roma and Galatasaray last autumn and, a few days after the under-21s’ win at Leicester, made his first-team debut as a late substitute in Wednesday’s 3-0 Carabao Cup third round victory over Doncaster Rovers.
Williams-Barnett replaced Mathys Tel in the 87th minute; as a senior player, he was duly assigned the Spurs legacy number 900.
Frank had praised Williams-Barnett’s composure, technique and vision in the build-up to that Doncaster tie with the club’s first-team academy transition coach Stuart Lewis having kept him abreast of the teenager’s progress.
“It’s always a pleasure to be part of a young player’s debut,” said the Tottenham manager post-match. “But it’s one thing to make a debut when you’re 16. The next step, and much more important, is how Luca moves forward. It’s very tough to keep going and then get into the first team as a really regular player. But the first step is very important.”
Last season he had impressed in the under-18s with 20 goals and 12 assists from 23 games and became renowned for his ability to take on defenders and his long-range shooting.
In fact he won the under-18s’ goal of the season when he scored against Leicester from just inside the opposition’s half, and he almost repeated the feat again in the second half last Friday night…
What we saw
It was actually his predatory instincts and ability to be in the right place at the right time that were key to his first-half hat-trick.
Playing in a floating No 10 role behind central striker Rio Kyerematen, Williams-Barnett would often change positions with left-sided forward Oliver Irow and immediately displayed a desire to get on the ball and run at the Leicester defence, giving central defender Kevon Gray a torrid time in particular.
His first goal, scored inside two minutes, may have had an element of good fortune about it as it was Gray, in attempting to clear a dangerous low cross, who inadvertently played his clearance onto Williams-Barnett and the ball looped into the net, but his positioning certainly was not fortuitous. He was in the right place at the right time to restore Tottenham’s lead with his second, slotting home the rebound after Yusuf Akhamrich’s shot was saved by the Leicester keeper, Stevie Bausor.
Williams-Barnett was at the heart of most of Tottenham’s dangerous attacks and took the set pieces as well.
He had another effort cleared off the line and teed up Akmanrich before completing his hat-trick five minutes before the break, showing composure and an impressive first touch before finishing well from just inside the penalty box.
He was quieter in the second period as he tired but still offered moments of quality, teeing up Leo Black for the sixth. Tottenham could have scored more had Williams-Barnett picked out the unmarked Kyerematen having dragged three Leicester defenders towards him with another threatening run.
His team-mates may have been unimpressed with that particular decision but, overall, it was a match-winning performance from Williams-Barnett, who showcased the potential that helped earn that senior bow a few days later.
“Some of his football is very, very good,” Burnett said after the Leicester game. “He’s an intelligent footballer for such a young man. He’s got ability, he’s got talent. You can clearly see that.
“He has to keep working. He has to keep developing, but he can be very, very exciting at times and we’re pleased to have him.”
It was difficult to tell that Williams-Barnett is several years younger than many of the other players on show, although he did fade physically in the second half.
That strength and stamina will come as he grows over the next few years, but it was clear he possesses are the raw ingredients — and natural talent — to succeed.
(Top image: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)