The Next Kane? Meet Tottenham’s 14 New Academy Players
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Tottenham Academy - June 11, 2015 6:00 am
The future stars of Tottenham Hotspur.
The decision-makers at Spurs will spend the next couple of months deciding who to add and who to remove from the first team squad, but next season’s academy personnel has already been decided. A couple of weeks ago, you might have seen a load of pictures on social networks of young lads signing scholarship deals at the Lane.. Well, here they are!
RELATED: 12 Young Players Who Could Breakthrough At Spurs Next Season
Twitter account
@THFCacademy (follow him…NOW!) knows a lot about the Tottenham Hotspur academy (the clue’s in his name) and he gave TheTottenhamWay an overview of next season’s intake of academy players, the next Harry Kanes, Ryan Masons and Andros Townsends…
Marcus Edwards – 3 Dec 1998
An incredibly talented attacking midfielder, capable of playing in any of the ‘3’ in a 4-2-3-1, Edwards possesses of a cultured left foot and low center of gravity, and stylistic comparisons with David Silva are not unjust.
Edwards made his breakthrough to the U18s last season as a schoolboy. Making seven appearances as a starter and a further six off the bench, he registered one goal and created a hat-trick of assists in the 4-1 win over Man City in April.
It is at international level that Edwards has really impressed; he was the star of last season’s England U17 side and scored two goals at the European Championship finals (the only goals scored by England at the tournament), including this beauty against Ireland.
This season he will be a regular for the U18s and will look to break into the U21 squad by the end of the campaign.
Kazaiah Sterling – 9 Nov 1998
Sterling is a pacey forward capable of playing on both flanks, although his preferred role is as the central striker. He made his U18 breakthrough last season scoring 4 goals in 13 games including the second in the 2-0 victory over Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup semi final.
Sterling has featured for England U17s in the past season and was unlucky to miss the Euro finals through injury after scoring against Portugal earlier in the season.
Over the coming season Sterling will look to impose himself as the U18s first choice striker and add more goals to his tally.
Jaden Brown – 1 June 1999
A versatile defender, capable at left back and centre half, Brown is one of the most highly thought of defenders in the club’s academy. The attacking full back made his U18s debut in January against Brighton in a 3-0 win and went on to make a further six starts during the campaign.
Brown was part of England’s victorious U16 team at the Montagiu tournament earlier this year. He has earned 8 caps for the national team and will expect to be part of the U17s for the coming season.
He should become an U18 regular next season and may make a few U21 appearances.
Japhet Tanganga – 2 May 1999
A highly rated centre half who made his U18s breakthrough last season, Tanganga is a strong defender and composed when bringing the ball out of defence. In the five starts he made for the U18s last term the team kept 4 clean sheets. He last appeared in March before injury curtailed his season. The young defender has 6 caps for England U16s but missed out on the Montaigu tournament in April due to the same injury.
Keanan Bennetts – 9 Mar 1999 (Confirmed)
A skillful attacker capable of playing on either flank, Bennetts has impressed domestically and internationally in the past year with his flair and direct dribbling. Currently at the centre of a tug of war between Germany and England the left-footed winger scored in the Montaigu final for the Three Lions U16 team.
Bennetts made 1 start and 2 substitute appearances for the Spurs U18 team last season, scoring on his debut against Brighton.
The Mail wrote an interesting article on Bennetts in November 2014, which included quotes from his father Richard.
Joy Mukena – 11 March 2000
A Belgian/Congolese centre back, Mukena made his debut for Kieran McKenna’s U18 side as a sub against West Brom in the penultimate game of last season. He’ll look to make more appearances and perhaps establish himself as a regular next season.
Jack Roles
The central midfielder notched over 25 goals last season for the U16s.
He also had to fill in at centre back for a couple of games and still managed to find the back of the net, including with this worldly run against West Ham:
Goal from CB Vs West Ham
pic.twitter.com/yCnmtT9suQ
— jack roles (@JRoles8)
May 10, 2015
Blessed with wonderful technique when striking the ball, Roles has acquired a reputation of a free kick and long shot specialist.
Nick Tsaroulla
A left back who made his U18 debut last season as a sub against Reading. He went on to make his first start against West Brom at the end of the season. An attacking full back, Tsaroulla won a penalty in his U18 debut coming on as a sub against Leicester in March.
Samuel Shashoua – 5 April 1999
Shashoua has progressed through the ranks to sign a 2-year scholarship with Spurs. A skillful attacking midfielder who first appeared for the U18s last season, the diminutive youngster scored a goal and got an assist on his debut against Fulham. He will look to establish himself as a regular for McKenna’s side over the course of this campaign.
He was called up to an England U16 training camp last season but has no international caps thus far.
Alfie Whiteman – 2 Oct 1998
A goalkeeper capped by England at U17 level, Whiteman will hope to add to his sole appearance for Spurs U18s this season. Highly rated by England coaches, Whiteman was a regular for his country before injury disrupted his progress. This season the England stopper will look to put his injury woes behind him and feature for the U18s, primarily acting as backup for Aussie goalkeeper Tom Glover.
George Marsh
A holding midfielder who looks to move the ball quickly, Marsh made four substitute appearances for the U18s last season – the first of those coming in February against Reading. Originally, he impressed in the annual U15 friendly against Ipswich at the end of the 2013/2014 season, performing well as the anchor in midfield.
Dylan Duncan
An attacking midfielder, Duncan first joined the U18 team in a trip to Malaysia where he featured in losses to Estudiantes and Porto. The tall midfielder went on to make a further 4 appearances for the U18s last season. He will likely be behind Edwards in the pecking order for next season but will get a fair amount of game time.
Aremide Oteh
The direct winger struggled with injuries last season restricting him to just one U18 appearance – coming off the bench against Reading in October.
Brandon Austin – 14 Sep 1999
Goalkeeper Austin has already been included in the U18 squad on a few of occasions and will look to compete with Whiteman as back up to Aussie Tom Glover next season.