The coach of a recent Tottenham departure believes Roberto De Zerbi has made a major blunder by sanctioning the cut-price sale of a forward he expects to become England’s next No. 9 and eventually be worth £100million.
Spurs have invested heavily in their squad this summer, parting with around £230million so far, and the potential signings of Cody Gakpo and/or Savinho could increase that significantly.
Tottenham have recouped some funds with some sales, though.
Luka Vuskovic, Cristian Romero and Djed Spence have been sold for big fees, while youngsters such as Will Lankshear and Alfie Devine have brought in smaller amounts.
Striker coach Scott Chickleday, who’s worked with Lankshear for the past couple of years, feels the former Tottenham striker has world-class potential.
“Sometimes you come out of the session and you are like, this one is special. You just get that feeling,” he told Sky Sports.
“It is his mentality. He wants to be the best. He wants to be the No 1 striker in England. And then obviously he wants to be the No 1 in the world too. And I really would not be surprised in two years’ time if he is Harry Kane’s replacement.
“I do not want to talk about moves at the minute because Middlesbrough will probably kill me. He has only been there five minutes. But I think he is two moves away from being a £100m striker if he keeps developing and doing well – and I think he will.”
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Tottenham could regret Lankshear transfer decision
Tottenham did not insert a buyback clause for Lankshear when selling him to Boro. After two games, that now looks like a mistake, as his value could increase dramatically if he continues in his current form.
Spurs do have matching rights for his next move, however. This means they will have the opportunity to match any bid offered for the young forward in the future – though Boro will be under no obligation to sell him.
Tottenham could end up having to pay more than they envisioned to bring him back if they choose to.
If Chickleday proves to be right and Lankshear looks as if he will become the next Kane, they may decide to do just that.
TEAMtalk revealed at the time of his transfer to Middlesbrough that Lankshear had made it clear he wanted regular first-team football, hence why Tottenham decided to let him go.
That may have been with a potential re-signing in mind, as those behind the scenes at Spurs are well aware of his sky-high potential.