Tottenham Hotspur have been something of a mixed bag this season, but at least the Londoners are well set for a prolonged period of success, having recruited a range of exciting young talents over the past few years.
While there are many teenage talents waiting in the wings, Thomas Frank and Ange Postecoglou before him have succeeded in integrating youth, with the average age of Tottenham's starting 11 in the Premier League this season 25.2, as opposed to a 27-year-old average during the 2022/23 campaign.
Who could be a better purveyor of this new focus than Micky van de Ven? The 24-year-old has increasingly become a talismanic force for the Lilywhites.
How Van de Ven is becoming the main man at Spurs
Van de Ven isn't quite a spring chicken, having racked up 51 Premier League appearances, but he's still well before his prime as a centre-back, and he's still emerging as a superstar for Tottenham.
The Dutch defender has been described as "world-class" by journalist Sonny Snelling, with his remarkable blend of athletic power and position-bending pace making him a force to be reckoned with.
It is crucial that Tottenham keep him in their ranks over the coming years, with few players more influential than him in the Premier League. It would be difficult for Spurs to sign an even better star to strengthen their backline, after all. Certainly, it would be difficult to find someone capable of mimicking the former Wolfsburg player's dynamic skills.
Of course, Tottenham's prudence and promotion of their academy talent has seen them land such a player already.
Spurs have signed a bigger talent than Van de Ven
Van de Ven is a unique profile, but then Tottenham have also signed a singular talent in Luka Vuskovic, with the 18-year-old bearing the skillset to become one of the Premier League's finest.
Hailed as a "freak talent" and a "freak athlete" for his physical profile by analyst Ben Mattinson, Vuskovic is currently plying his trade out on loan in Germany with Hamburger SV, with Spurs having wrapped up a deal for the youngster in 2023, yet to integrate him into the senior set-up.
While there is much work still to be done, the Croatian prospect has only increased the hype across his first few months in the Bundesliga, having established himself as a core part of Hamburg's defence, who are 13th after ten matches.
Looking at how the teenager compares with Van de Ven this season, it's easy to see why there is so much chatter around his name. You might even say Van de Ven is being outperformed by the younger man.
Translation from the Bundesliga to the Premier League can prove a hard task, but Vuskovic certainly has what it takes, and his physical attributes are only going to develop further over the coming years.
With this in mind, we might consider the 6 foot 4 teenager to have what it takes to become Tottenham's leader at the rear, ahead of Van de Ven, ahead of Cristian Romero.
In fact, WhoScored believe that Vuskovic's performances have been so impressive that he gets into the European Team of the Season so far, higher-rated, in fact, than Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes beside him.
Not just a warrior at the back, in the words of U23 scout Antonio Mango, much like Van de Ven, he is "turning into a goal machine" having netted seven goals on loan at Belgian side KVC Westerlo in 2024/25.
Though Vuskovic still has some developing to do, there's no question that he's a potential superstar, and if he does come to partner the Dutchman down the line, he might even outstrip him.