If you thought Tottenham Hotspur’s pre-season preparations would be dominated by talk of new signings Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes, think again.
Sure, there’s a lot of talk about new signings, but none more so than Luka Williams-Barnett.
The teenager has been one of the stars so far against MK Dons and Auckland, with a number of academy players attracting attention in the first two games.
Like most Premier League teams, their plans have been influenced by the World Cup. A number of Spurs’ first-team players are still on holiday, meaning that the aforementioned Williams Barnett, as well as Malachi Hardy, Rio Kyerematen, Mikey Moore and Yang Min-hyuk, have also had game time.
Why Williams-Barnett is a preseason star
With the £100m arrival of Tonali and the £85m move of Fernandes, all eyes were understandably on the midfield heading into last Wednesday’s 1-0 win over MK Dons.
Tonali had a quiet debut compared to his new midfield colleague, who made an all-around impact, scoring a superb volley just three minutes into the game.
But despite that goal, it was Williams-Barnett who got the biggest buzz after the game.
The 17-year-old has long been highly regarded behind the scenes. In the words of Como scout Ben Mattinson, he is “one of England’s best talents at youth level” and it’s easy to see why.
He made his first-team debut for the Lilywhites last season and it was well deserved. After all, for the youth team the teenager scored 16 goals in 19 games throughout the 2025/26 season.
Williams Barnet vs MK Dons | |
|---|---|
Play time (minutes) | 45 |
touch | 33 |
exact path | 20/22 (91%) |
key pass | 3 |
shot | 1 |
dribbling success | 2/6 |
carry | 14 |
won a duel | 3/8 |
The youngster, who became an attacking midfielder by trade, can also play on the wing or slightly behind midfield, as his performance against MK showed a few days ago.
Williams-Barnett, who came on as a substitute in the second half, exuded class in the middle of the park while playing deep. His ball carrying was great and his passing weight was very good. He attempted a whopping six dribbles and made three significant passes before leaving the field.
His performance in the 2-0 win over Auckland FC early on Sunday morning wasn’t quite as good, but it was still an eye-catching performance. He took five shots in that game.
It is too early to throw Williams-Barnett into a regular starting spot in the Premier League, but Spurs need to improve up front to give him the best chance of success in the future.
How can Spurs help Williams-Barnett develop?
Based on the teenager’s performances we saw in pre-season, it’s kind of a surprise that he wasn’t given more game time last season amidst all the injuries and relegation issues.
It’s entirely possible that the pressure of playing in such an environment took a toll on his development, but he could have played a key role, especially with James Madison on the sideline.
Maddison is certainly one of Williams-Barnett’s biggest threats to playing time in the future. Rumor has it that he will become the next captain if Cristian Romero leaves, meaning he is likely to be one of the first names on the team sheet. The additions of Tonali and Fernandes also won’t help them get more game time in deeper roles.
But when you have a young player this good, he gets minutes and establishes himself in the team. Roberto De Zerbi will have to find space for him next season.
The truth is, he’s going to be a big player in the future and Tottenham have made good additions this summer, but now they need to look to improve in the final third.
Several players have been touted for a move, but perhaps the most exciting is Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Crupi. They are also keeping an eye on Manchester City’s Sabinho, who appears to be their main target. He could cost £60m.
Fabrizio Romano provided an update on the signing of the Brazilian player on his YouTube channel, saying: “Saviño is one of the players they definitely want. They continue to be in talks, very keen and committed. The deal is absolutely done.”
If Spurs decide to sign a right-winger, a great partnership could be formed here with a player in that number 10 role. Whether it’s Maddison or Williams-Barnett, both will thrive with a player this technically gifted.
Sabinho is not the biggest scorer – he has scored just seven goals in 84 games for City – but he is very creative. In his debut season at the Etihad, he assisted 13 goals in all competitions. In the Premier League that season, only Kevin De Bruyne (2.1) made more key passes per game than the Spurs link forward (1.6) at Manchester City.
In fact, Savio and Williams-Barnett are both particularly creative and good ball carriers.
The latter was proven as well when he attempted six dribbles against MK Dons. For comparison, the former has completed 7.45 progressive carries per 90 minutes in 2025/26, which is in the best 1% of wingers in Europe’s top five leagues.
Together, these make operating in pockets of space at the edges of areas and inside waterways extremely dangerous.
