Spurs’ Academy goalkeeper Joshua Oluwayemi left the club on the 2nd of June, following the end of his professional contract with the club. Oluwayemi had been at the Spurs Academy for around 12 years. During that time the talented goalkeeper would feature regularly for Spurs’ Academy sides, and since 2017 Joshua has featured for both the Spurs Under 18 side and Under 23 side regularly. Born in London, the 21 year old made the most competitive appearances as a goalkeeper for the Spurs Under 23 side during 2021/22, when he made 18 appearances. Oluwayemi is a goalkeeper with great reflexes, and someone who commands his penalty area really well, in addition to constantly providing encouragement to his defence. Also, Joshua’s distribution and composure on the ball has always been good, and he is also good at rushing out of his box to clear the ball. The former England youth international made his competitive debut for the Spurs Under 18 side in the August of the 2017/18 season, as a substitute in a Premier League South game with Leicester City. He would make one more appearance for the Spurs Under 18 side during the remainder of that season, as Joshua kept a clean-sheet in a 5-0 league win over Aston Villa.

It was during the following 2018/19 season when Joshua became the first choice goalkeeper for the Spurs Under 18 side. He was such an important player for Matt Wells’ very talented side, who came so close to winning the 2018/19 Premier League South. Oluwayemi made some incredible and very important saves during that season, and he also saved a really good number of penalties. I’ll always remember a brilliant save that Joshua made in the away league fixture with Arsenal, during that season, when he was able to tip an effort which seemed destined to be going into the top left hand corner of the goal, onto one of his posts. It was an outstanding save. In the seasons that followed and after he signed professional forms with Spurs, Joshua Oluwayemi would after time become the first choice goalkeeper for the Spurs Under 23 side, for almost two seasons. He also went out on a loan to non-League side Maidenhead United, for a short time, before returning to Spurs during the 2020/21 season. 

I also remember well when Joshua really impressed at the prestigious pre-season Tournoi Europeen, in France, when he had three very good matches. Very good at saving efforts from close range, Oluwayemi has in my opinion been very consistent for Spurs at Under 18 and Under 23 level over the years, and it has been great to watch him get better and better since he signed scholarship forms with the club. The goalkeeper who was called-up to the senior Nigeria national team, for an international friendly with Mexico in the July of 2021, is in my opinion someone who will have a very good career in football. Academy goalkeepers at Spurs have always been very good, ever since I first starting watching Spurs’ Academy games. And Joshua Oluwayemi is someone who I’ve always thought very highly of, and I’d like to wish him all the very best of luck for the future. Farewell and good luck, Joshua.