Tottenham Hotspur were eliminated from the League Cup after losing 2-0 to Newcastle United at St James’s Park on Wednesday night.
It was a difficult away game against the competition’s defending champions, but there was an opportunity for Thomas Frank to give his young players an opportunity to make a positive impression.
The Danish tactician left the likes of James Roswell, Luka Gunter and Dane Scarlett on the bench, but didn’t give the academy graduate a minute on the night.
Meanwhile, local rivals Arsenal won 2-0 against Brighton, starting four academy graduates, with 15-year-old Max Daumann starting on the wing.
Tottenham’s most valuable former academy player
Acquiring talent through the academy can save clubs millions of pounds, as young stars emerging from the Under-21s won’t have to sign players for their positions.
How much would it cost to sign Kane, who scored 280 goals for Spurs in his prime? Transfermarkt suggest his value has peaked at £132m, showing how beneficial it can be to offer young players a chance to shine.
Tottenham’s most valuable former academy star | |
|---|---|
player | market value |
harry kane | £66 million |
call maduike | £44m |
Troy Parrott | £14m |
mikey moore | £14m |
Kyle Walker Peters | £13 million |
Rating by Transfermarkt | |
As you can see from the table above, not many valuable players have come through Spurs’ academy to establish themselves at elite level.
The most notable example apart from Kane is Madueke, who did not play a single game for Tottenham at first-team level before moving to Chelsea and Arsenal.
Frank could help Spurs find their next big academy graduate this season by turning Luca Williams-Barnett into his own Max Dauman.
Why Williams-Barnett could be Tottenham’s down man
The Tottenham youngster is not as young as the Arsenal forward, as he turned 17 at the beginning of October, but he is still an incredibly young and promising talent.
Described as “special” by Under-23 scout Antonio Mango, Williams-Barnett played eight minutes off the bench in the League Cup win over Doncaster earlier this season, but when he came on Spurs were already leading 2-0 against the League One side.
To truly demonstrate your faith in Academy talent, put them in difficult situations and positions and see how they fare. For example, 15-year-old Dauman started for Arsenal in the League Cup against Brighton in the Premier League on Wednesday.
According to Transfermarkt, Williams-Barnett has eight goals and seven assists in 11 games across all competitions for the Under-21s this season.
Meanwhile, Micky van de Ven and Richarlison are the top scorers for the first team at Premier League level, with three goals each, according to SofaScore.
Williams-Barnett, who analyst Ben Mattinson claimed had “scored a banger”, also had 20 goals and 12 assists in 23 games across all competitions at academy level in the 2024-25 season, according to SofaScore.
These statistics show that the 17-year-old attacking midfielder, who can play both centrally and wide, has the potential to provide goals and assists for the first team if he is able to transfer his performances there, which may be necessary given that Van de Ven is the top scorer for both teams in the Premier League.
But it will be up to Frank to unleash him in the first team this season, unearth his talent and drop him into the deep end to see if his abilities can swim, as Mikel Arteta did with Dauman.
