Both Troy Parrott and Harvey White have progressed through the Spurs Academy set-up, with both players part of the extremely talented 2018/19 Academy age group at the club. Parrott spent this season on loan with Championship side Preston North End, where he made 34 competitive appearances, scoring four goals for them following his loan move to Lancashire last summer. Harvey White spent the first half of the season with Spurs, mainly playing for their Under 21 side, as well as making one competitive appearance for the Spurs first team, from the bench in a Premier League fixture with Crystal Palace in January. In addition to that first team appearance, Harvey also started two first team mid-season friendly matches, against Motherwell and Nice respectively, in the false nine centre-forward position. He would join League One side Derby County on loan, during early 2023, and he would make 15 competitive appearances for them (Harvey started five of those matches).

Troy Parrott is the most promising centre-forward that I have ever seen play in the Spurs Academy set-up. The former Belvedere player and current Republic of Ireland international, is still very much a player who in my opinion has so much potential. The 21 year old has spent the last three seasons away from Spurs on loan, enjoying a particularly successful loan with then League One side MK Dons in 2021/22, when he often wasn’t playing as the main centre-forward. Parrott is in my opinion faster than most players, has good skill on the ball and most importantly of all he gets into excellent positions from which he can score goals from, such is his excellent off the ball movement and anticipation of situations on the pitch. Of course as a centre-forward, despite the fact that he wasn’t always playing as a centre-forward, he’ll not be satisfied with his stats for goals scored for Preston last season. However, the Republic of Ireland international who has already won 18 international caps for his country, would in my opinion in a better team with top players, excel, and get a lot of goals.

At Academy level Troy quickly became too good for the Spurs Under 18 side and in time the Spurs Under 21 side. He also quickly became physically ready to play senior football, but it was his determination to get into goalscoring positions, link-up play and desire to drop deep as well as his clinical ability in front of goal, which made him one of the top academy prospects in the country. He started and scored for a Spurs Under 21 side, in their friendly match with Syracuse University on Friday. I really hope that he gets some really good minutes for the Spurs first team in pre-season, to show much that he can contribute in a top side, which I fully believe he can do. Central midfielder Harvey White also got minutes in the friendly match with Syracuse University, following his return from his loan move at Derby County. Harvey is as many Spurs fans now know, a great set-piece taker, who has a wonderful left foot. However, the 21 year old is a midfielder who has a real tenacity to his game, and at Academy level I have seen him run games with real ease from midfield.

Harvey White has played for Spurs quite a bit in pre-season before, but I personally think that he has improved quite a lot from watching him in recent seasons. I’m sure that he would have liked to have started more games for Derby, but in the Spurs Under 21 side last season it became quite evident as one of the more senior players in the side, that he was developing into a fine leader, and someone who could encourage and motivate his teammates in difficult situations on the pitch. He likes to get forward and score goals, as well as working hard for the team and doing a lot of defensive work. However, he is as I wrote earlier, someone who really can make the difference in matches. He is a very intelligent midfield player with a great understanding of the game, at still an early stage of his footballing career. I really hope that both Troy and Harvey get some really good minutes for the Spurs first team in pre-season, and from there can really flourish during 2023/24. 

Goalkeeper Alfie Whiteman is a local lad to Spurs, in Tottenham, and he has always been a Spurs fan. The 24 year old Academy graduate recently signed a new contract with the club until 2025, and the player who made his debut as a late substitute in a UEFA Europa League group-stage fixture against Ludogorets Razgrad in 2020, also impressed for the Spurs first team in matches during the following pre-season. A talented and commanding goalkeeper with great reflexes and a good amount of success at saving penalty kicks, Alfie Whiteman has been at Spurs for a long time, along with goalkeeper Brandon Austin, who was also part of the same very talented 2015/16 Academy age group. Impressing and featuring a lot for the Spurs Under 18 side during his two years of scholarship with Spurs, Alfie would later step-up permanently to the then Spurs Under 23 side, from 2017 onwards.

A vocal goalkeeper with good organisation skills, I remember well Alfie Whiteman’s time in the Spurs Academy, from the scholarship days onwards. He was consistent for both the Spurs Under 18 and Under 23 side, and the former England youth international who was capped by England up until Under 19 level, would put in some big performances for the two main Spurs Academy sides. I can remember him  putting in a brilliant performance at Old Trafford for the old Spurs Under 23 side in a Premier League 2 fixture with Manchester United in 2018, as well as some other really good ones against Arsenal and Leicester City respectively. And in the same season (Alfie and Brandon were the two main goalkeepers for the Spurs Under 23 side that season) Alfie got a really good amount of game time for Spurs. He would later often train with the first team in previous seasons, as well as playing some matches for the Spurs Development side, on occasions.

Very good at saving efforts from distance owing to his impressive positioning, the Spurs goalkeeper also claims corner-kicks and set-pieces well, and he has very good reactions from close range. Alfie Whiteman would join Swedish side Degerfors on loan during their 2021 season, before returning to Spurs and later rejoining them on loan for the 2022 season, where he got some very good experience of playing regular football in the Swedish top flight. Not long after returning from his second loan move at Degerfors, Alfie played a match for the Spurs Under 21 side against Liverpool, in the Premier League 2. He had a really good game against Liverpool, making some fine saves and also organising the Spurs defence well. I am very pleased that Alfie has had his stay extended at Spurs, as along with Brandon Austin he really deserves it. Also, given the opportunity with the first team in a match, I am sure that he would do the club proud. I would like to congratulate Alfie on his new contract, and I wish him well for the remainder of this season.

Spurs Academy player Maksim Paskotši is an international footballer for Estonia, and at 20 he has already won 16 caps for his country. The former Flora Tallinn player who joined Spurs in 2020 and who impressed for the Spurs Under 18 side in his first season at the club, also scored quite a lot of goals for a defender whilst playing at that level for the club. Since the start of the 2021/22 season, the versatile defender has been with the Spurs Under 21 side on a permanent basis. And although he hasn’t always been a regular in the Under 21 side, he has started all four of Spurs’ Under 21’s four games this year, and I personally think that he has done very well in those matches. Although he started off in central defence when he first joined Spurs, Maksim has also shown his versatility in defence. He has defended really solidly in all four competitive matches that he has been involved in for the Spurs Under 21 side this season, and starting with the Liverpool game last month when Maksim completed 61 minutes and defended well against talented winger Ben Doak during some of that match, he has since gone onto put in three more really fine defensive performances.

Maksim Paskotši is a tenacious defender, who at left-back has shown his really good pace. He is strong in the challenge and can tackle well, and he has also shown his good reading of the game, and also his ability to get forward well to support the forward players. In the recent Under 21’s games against Arsenal, Brighton and Everton, Maksim has  impressed with his all-round game, and defensively with his tackling and positioning, and I think that he has done really well. He defended well on his side of the pitch against Charles Sagoe Jr in the game against Arsenal and against Liam Higgins and Nathan Patterson in the Everton game, whilst also doing well in the recent game with Brighton. Hopefully Maksim gets a really good run of games in the Spurs Under 21 side at left-back during the remainder of this season, as he continues to improve.

The Spurs Under 21 side recorded a 1-1 draw against Everton in Southport on Friday evening, to keep up their unbeaten start to the new year. The game didn’t get off to the best of starts for Spurs, with the home side taking the lead through Stanley Mills after just two minutes. However, Spurs grew into the game, and by the time that the final whistle was sounded, Spurs had created the better chances of the two sides, and thanks to Alfie Devine’s clever headed equalising goal, Spurs secured a good point in Southport. In the following piece I will be writing about some of the impressive performances in the Spurs side, in what was a good team performance. Defensively I thought that it was a good performance from Spurs. The impressive Brooklyn Lyons-Foster and Malachi Fagan-Walcott worked well together in central defence, and were decisive in their defending. Also, Lyons-Foster  was as always impressive on the ball, and he passed the ball well into midfield.

Midfielder Max Robson once again started the match at right-back. The 20 year old impressed, in my opinion. He defended well, but he also got forward well, impressing with his good pace and determination. And his forward runs were good, and he made one really good forward pass during the match. On the other side of the pitch, Maksim Paskotši had another good game at left-back. The Estonia international defended solidly on that side of the pitch, including against Everton’s first team right-back Nathan Patterson, who started the match for Everton’s Under 21 side on Friday. And in central midfield, Matthew Craig was very good for Spurs yesterday evening. The Scotland Under 21 international was everywhere in midfield, and his work-rate was superb. Craig used the ball well, and at times also covered well for other players. He has started the year really well for Spurs’ Under 21 side.

Finally I thought that Spurs’ goalscorer Alfie Devine had another good game for Spurs, and as well as taking his goal well, he also showed his class on the ball during his time on the pitch, whilst working well off the ball as well. And on the left flank for Spurs, Romaine Mundle had another very good game. Always very inventive on the ball and direct, Romaine did well against Nathan Patterson, during the Everton player’s time on the pitch. The 19 year old Spurs player also provided the assist for Alfie Devine’s first half goal, by delivering a good free-kick into the Everton penalty area. Spurs’ Under 21 side face Crystal Palace on Monday the 27th of February, in their next Premier League 2 fixture.

A player that I have written a number of articles on in recent years, Brooklyn Lyons-Foster (22), is a player who I have always thought very highly of, regardless of which position he plays in on the pitch. The versatile Islington born defender returned from a serious injury that he sustained in a Premier League 2 fixture against Blackburn Rovers last season, during this pre-season. However, Brooklyn only started his first competitive game for the Spurs Under 21 side in late September of last year, in a 4-0 Premier League 2 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion. Since that game he has almost always played in central defence, a position which he regularly used to play in for a number of years. Putting in a series of very impressive and influential performances for the Spurs Under 21 side, against the likes of Fulham, Manchester United, West Ham and Arsenal, Brooklyn has bounced back from his very unfortunate injury, to in my opinion become such an important member of the Under 21 side, and a real leader in the side as well.

It hasn’t just been the defensive blocks, the important challenges and the great reading of the game that he has shown, alongside his central defensive partner Malachi Fagan-Walcott. It has also been the maturity, responsibility and leadership that he has shown in every single game this season that he has played. And just like in Spurs’ first two wins of the season, against Liverpool and Arsenal respectively, in the last two matches. Brooklyn has been so important and influential in helping Spurs to get those all important victories, as they look to climb their way up the Division One table. He has unfortunately had three bad injuries since joining Spurs full-time in 2017, but every time he has returned stronger from those injuries, and he has slotted back into the Spurs Under 21 side as if he was never away in the first place. 

Watching those recent Premier League 2 games against West Ham, Liverpool and Arsenal, I thought that Brooklyn was the best player on the pitch in all three of those games. Such was his excellent reading of the game, the intensity that he has played the game at in central defence, and also his all-round defending and decision making. He was leading by example in the recent 2-0 win over Arsenal, and I noticed, although I don’t recall him making a sliding challenge, he read that match and anticipated what the Arsenal forwards were going to do with the ball, with such ease and style. Japhet Tanganga made his senior competitive debut for the Spurs first team fairly late in his development, and I would love to see 22 year old Brooklyn Lyons-Foster also get his chance at the top level for his boyhood club, at some stage in the near future. I have no doubts whatsoever, that he would step up and perform with real quality at the very highest level.

Highly skilful and creative winger Dilan Markanday left Spurs just over one year ago. A very highly rated young Academy prospect, Dilan left Spurs not that long after making his sole first team appearance for them, in a UEFA Europa Conference League group-stage fixture with Vitesse Arnhem. He left to join Championship side Blackburn Rovers, on a three and a half year contract. For someone who has watched Dilan progress through the Academy ranks at Spurs during recent years, I was very sad to see Dilan leave Spurs, a club that obviously means a lot to the Barnet born professional footballer, and it is a club that he has supported for many years. The youngest of all his age group, since joining Spurs as a first year scholar in the summer of 2017, Dilan featured a lot for the Spurs Under 18 side in 2017/18, came on really well under the tutelage of then head-coach Matt Wells, the following season, before spending a number of seasons with the then Spurs Under 23 side. Always improving his game, Dilan bulked up physically, becoming stronger with and without the ball, around the time of the 2020/21 season. And towards the end of that season and going into the following 2021/22 season, he was unplayable for the Spurs Under 23 side, and he was without doubt their most important player, up until leaving the club.

The now 21 year old’s move to Blackburn Rovers would probably have surprised quite a few people, in particular Spurs supporters. With his pace (he has got quicker and quicker over the years), outstanding dribbling ability, agility and creative ability on the ball, as well as a real understanding of the game, Markanday’s talents would long have attracted the interest off of other top clubs. His decision to join Blackburn Rovers however, cannot have been an easy one for the former Spurs man. Soon after joining them, Dilan made his competitive debut for Blackburn, as a substitute in a Championship fixture with Hull City. In that game he picked up a serious hamstring injury which kept him out for most of the second half of the 2021/22 season. He returned for former manager Tony Mowbray’s side in the final game of that season, in a league fixture against Birmingham City. It would have obviously been a long journey to recovery and full match sharpness for Dilan, and after featuring for the Blackburn Rovers first team again, quite a lot last pre-season, Dilan has had to be patient for his chances with the first team.

From four Carabao Cup appearances for the Lancashire club this season, Dilan has scored two goals for the first team, making a really positive impression in those games, as well as a real desire to work hard for the team. In addition to his appearances in that competition, he has made one appearance for Blackburn in the FA Cup, in a 1-0 third round win away to Norwich City. And he played his own important part in the build-up to forward Jack Vale’s goal in that game. One appearance in the Championship this season, as a substitute in a fixture with Rotherham, which Blackburn disappointing lost 4-0, saw Dilan come away from that game receiving praise from fans for his performance. The former Spurs player has also featured for the Blackburn Rovers Under 21 side, and has unsurprisingly excelled for them at that level. Getting injured at such an important and early stage in his time at his new club, must have been very difficult. But from the games that he has played for the Blackburn first team this season, he has shown that wonderful determination, and desire to always be positive and creative on the ball, as well as working so hard off it. 

A player who I very much believe can not only play at the highest level, but also excel at the highest level in the future. Dilan Markanday is a real prospect in the game, and having followed Blackburn’s games very closely this season, I reckon that as they look to earn a play-off spot during the second part of the season, that Dilan will play, hopefully a big and prominent part in helping Blackburn in their quest to achieve that goal. Dilan is more than capable of making a real difference on the pitch, during a long second half of the footballing season, in England’s second tier.