Goalkeeper Thimothée Lo-Tutala has established himself as the first choice goalkeeper for France’s Under 19 side during this season. The former Brentford Academy player, who has been at Spurs for a good number of years, joined Spurs full-time in the summer of 2019, for the start of the 2019/20 season. Lo-Tutala was born in Paris, in France, but brought up in Hainault, Essex. While with Brentford, he would have been with future Spurs Academy players Dermi Lusala and Eddie Carrington, who were in the same age group as him at the west London club. First making the Spurs Under 18 squad as a substitute in a Premier League South game away to Brighton & Hove Albion during the 2017/18 season, Lo-Tutala made a decent number of appearances for the Spurs Under 18 side during his first season full-time with the club, in 2019/20. He also started both of the FA Youth Cup games that Spurs played in that season. However, it was during the following 2020/21 season that Thimothée Lo-Tutala really became the first choice goalkeeper for the Spurs Under 18 side. 

During the 2020/21 season, Lo-Tutala was a regular for then Spurs Under 18’s head-coach Matt Taylor’s side, and was named captain of the side on all but one occasion during that season. He also kept seven clean-sheets for the Spurs Under 18 side during that season, and would go onto make his debut for the Spurs Under 23 side in the Premier League 2, in a 6-1 home loss to Manchester City, in the final league game of that season. After featuring for the Spurs Under 23 side during pre-season, Thimothée made his first competitive start of the season for the Spurs Under 23 side in a 3-1 away win against Manchester City in the Premier League 2, and has since gone onto make a further seven appearances for Wayne Burnett’s side in all competitions, plus an additional two for the Spurs Under 18 side, during the early part of this season. Lo-Tutala has done really well in my opinion this season, in the games that he has started. There has also obviously been a lot of competition for a goalkeeping place in the Spurs Under 23 side, with Joshua Oluwayemi, Kacper Kurylowicz and Isak Solberg also all part of the Spurs Under 23 squad.

Really impressing in Premier League 2 games against the likes of Manchester City (at home) and Manchester United (at home), Thimothée was first selected to represent the country that he was born in (France) at Under 19 level for the September international break, of 2021. The goalkeeper has since made 10 appearances for a very talented France Under 19 side, and the goalkeeper who speaks fluent French has kept three clean-sheets so far for the French Under 19 side. So what kind of goalkeeper is Thimothée? Well he is a tall and very commanding goalkeeper, and one who doesn’t let physical centre-forward’s get the better of him from crosses and set-pieces. He is a reliable goalkeeper and I’ve always noticed in matches that he is very alert. Always talking the defenders through the game, and giving them instructions, Thimothée has good distribution, and he doesn’t take unnecessary risks with the ball at his feet. He is capable of rushing out of his goal at a good pace to clear the ball if needed, but he is also a very good shot stopper, and one who is capable of making excellent reflex saves, especially from close range (for example – the great late save that he made against AFC Wimbledon in the FA Youth Cup, last season).

Good at saving penalties, as he has shown on occasions since joining the club full-time in 2019, Lo-Tutala is in my opinion just a very good all-round goalkeeper, and someone who has got better and better over the past couple of seasons, continuing to make really good strides. At Spurs, the Academy goalkeepers who are at the club, are all very talented ones, and so Thimothée and also the very talented Joshua Oluwayemi have both had good opportunities of game time for the Spurs Under 23 side this season, which is great to see. I would like to wish Thimothée all the very best of luck for the remainder of the season. A season which he has done really well in, so far.