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Perth, Australia. 18th July, 2023. Destiny Udogie of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after scoring a goal during the pre-season soccer match between West Ham United and the Tottenham Hotspurs at Optus Stadium in Perth, Tuesday, July 18, 2023.

Tottenham’s 11 wonderkids on Football Manager 2024: Udogie, Sarr, Moore…

Nestor Watach •

What a time it is to be a Tottenham supporter. The club are flying high at the top of the Premier League and look to have a bright future with some talented youngsters impressing under Ange Postecoglou or on the cusp of breaking through.

Football Manager 2024 will be released in the coming days, but the early access beta is out now – and the game’s assessment of Spurs’ academy graduates makes for interesting reading.

We’ve taken through FMScout‘s detailed database of FM24 wonderkids to pick out the 11 Tottenham players set for bright futures.

Alfie Dorrington

The Enfield-born defender has been with Tottenham’s academy since he was 13 years old.

Now 18, Dorrington is continuing his development with the club’s Under-21s and has been a regular in the Premier League 2 this season. He signed a three-year deal in the summer and is expected to kick on and challenge for first-team contention in the coming years.

Ashley Phillips

Tottenham signed the highly-rated centre-back from Blackburn Rovers in the summer, for a fee reported to be in the region of ÂŁ2million.

Phillips, 18, made eight Championship appearances for Blackburn but he’s taken a step back to Spurs’ youth ranks for now. The England Under-19 international has lined up alongside Dorrington for Wayne Burnett’s Under-21s.

A lack of cup participation means that Postecoglou is unlikely to rotate and lean on his youth players much this season, although come January the FA Cup may present Phillips with an opportunity for his senior debut.

Destiny Udogie

The Italian left-back joined in the summer of 2022 but spent last season back on loan with Udinese.

But alongside the likes of James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario, Udogie has been an inspired addition to Tottenham’s squad.

The 20-year-old has already nailed down the left-back spot in Postecoglou’s favoured XI and his fine form was rewarded with a full Azzurri debut during the last international break.

A gem.

Pape Matar Sarr

The new faces haven’t been the only reason that Tottenham have made great strides forward this season.

Postecoglou has swiftly gone about improving a number of the players he inherited, chief among them Sarr – the Senegal international made just two Premier League starts last season but now looks a vital member of the squad.

Sarr has been superb so far in 2023-24. It will be interesting to see if he keeps his place in midfield following the return of Rodrigo Bentancur.

READ: 5 players that Ange Postecoglou has improved at Tottenham

Callum Olusesi

Another rising baller from South London, Olusesi hails from Lambeth but has developed his skills north of the river in Tottenham’s youth set-up.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Tottenham fended off interest from Manchester United in the summer and have an agreement in principle on a long-term deal that runs until 2026.

Olusesi, 16, has two assists and one goal in five appearances for Tottenham in the Under-18s Premier League this season.

Mikey Moore

Ranked alongside Jamal Musiala, Endrick, Lamine Yamal and Jude Bellingham as one of the very best wonderkids in Football Manager 2024, Moore’s 94 rating places him as having the potential to be an “all-time elite player” – according to FMScout.

That’s quite something for a 16-year-old. Watch this space.

James Herbie

It’s evident that Herbie is prodigiously talented. Manchester City paid a compensation fee to sign the forward from Port Vale when he was just 11 years old.

He spent five years in City’s academy – which boasts an increasingly proven track record for nurturing top young stars – before joining Tottenham back in April.

The 16-year-old has played a largely fringe role off the bench for Spurs’ Under-18s so far this season, while he recently opened his account by scoring in a 7-2 win over Norwich’s Under-18s (see above).

Jamie Donley

Tottenham’s Under-21s top the Premier League 2 table with a perfect record of seven wins from seven games. England Under-19 international Donley has probably been their standout.

The 18-year-old has notched seven assists and four goals in seven appearances in the competition – that’s a direct goal contribution every 52 minutes.

Jude Soonsup-Bell

“Growing up my idol was Cristiano Ronaldo,” Soonsup-Bell told the Changsuek YouTube channel back in 2021.

“I used to watch clips and skills of him when I was younger and looked at his all-round game. I used to try to repeat his skills and what he did in games.”

The 19-year-old striker left boyhood club Chelsea for Tottenham in January, reportedly because he felt he had a better chance of progressing to the first team.

He made one brief League Cup appearance for the Blues last season and awaits his Tottenham debut.

Alejo Veliz

Argentina Under-20 international Veliz joined Spurs from Rosario Central in the summer.

He notched up over 50 matches for the club and has made three very brief substitute appearances for Postecoglou’s first team.

Will Lankshear

The forward came up through Arsenal’s academy and spent a year with Sheffield United before moving back to North London with Tottenham last year.

Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom worked closely with the youngster, who captained the club to the Under-18 Professional Development League Division 2 title in 2021–22 and scored 38 goals in 48 games across their different age-group teams. The Yorkshire club reportedly tried to sign him to a long-term contract but Tottenham swooped to sign him for a £2million fee.

Lankshear, 18, has four goals in six Premier League 2 appearances for the Under-21s this season.


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