Roberto De Zerbi is lacking in first team players right now and that means opportunities for some of Tottenham's young talents
Talented teenager Mason Melia has been training with Roberto De Zerbi's first team this week amid Tottenham's injury woes, football.london understands.
The 18-year-old forward arrived at Spurs in January after the north London club agreed a deal with St Patrick's Athletic in February last year, worth an initial £1.6million - a record transfer for the League of Ireland - with the potential for future add-ons to double that figure.
Tottenham fended off competition from various top Premier League and European clubs to sign a teenager considered to be one of the biggest young talents in Irish football. Melia put pen to paper on a long-term contract until 2031, but was not allowed by EU law to make the move to the Premier League club until he turned 18.
After arriving in January with a back injury and then picking up a chest infection, the Republic of Ireland U21 international would not make his debut until this month and scored within three minutes of coming off the bench for Spurs' U21s against West Ham.
Melia has now played four matches, starting three times, and after being involved in first team training earlier this month, the teenager is understood to have taken part again this week with De Zerbi low on attacking numbers due to Xavi Simons' ACL injury and Dominic Solanke coming off with a hamstring problem in the win at Wolves.
Melia does have plenty of senior experience despite his age, haven taken part in 98 senior matches, including Europa League games, and been directly involved in 33 goals, scoring 25 and recording eight assists. Both Melia and his fellow January arrival James Wilson, who came from Hearts, could be vying for a spot on the bench in the Premier League in the remaining four matches of the season.
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Another gifted young player hoping to be back in time to impress De Zerbi is Luca Williams-Barnett. The 17-year-old made his Tottenham debut this season in the Carabao Cup win against Doncaster Rovers and has been on the bench in the Premier League six times this campaign as well as on another four occasions in the Champions League.
However, like Melia, the attacker has been missing in recent months with back pain, as has fellow Spurs debutant Jun'ai Byfield. Back issues associated with growing pains are a common ailment for teenage footballers as they take on the load of training and matches while still developing.
Williams-Barnett is believed to be set to return to action in the coming days, while fellow 17-year-old Byfield is back on the grass but may be brought back slowly with pre-season in mind ahead of a big year expected for both young talents.
Winger Tynan Thompson, who turned 18 this month, will be hoping to get a chance to impress De Zerbi after returning with a bang to the U21s from his own injury in recent weeks. The teenager has scored in back-to-back matches as Spurs work their way through the Premier League 2 play-offs and he starred in the UEFA Youth League earlier this season with seven goals and two assists in seven matches.