Middle Row from L to R: Anderson Mbangi, Anis Mehmeti, Kamal De Bourg, Kane Thomspson-Sommers, Phoenix Patterson, Brooklyn Lyons-Foster, Dilan Markanday, Joshua Oluwayemi
Front Row L to R: John McDermott, Paris Maghoma, Oliver Skipp, Jubril Okedina, Justin Cochrane
In what promises to be good news for Nigerian football, two wonder kids of the Super Eagles have signed new deals with the English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, as reported by All Nigeria Soccer.
The two players signed by the White Hart Lane club ahead of the new season are central defender Jubril Okedina and goalkeeper Joshua Oluwayemi. The two players are among the 16 new intakes at the club and have signed two-year scholarship deals with the club.
Okedina is a 16-year-old who made his youth team debut in a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in February 2017. His performance against Ipswich Town Under 15’s in March 2016 was one of his first appearances that caught the eye.
Another player signing the deal was Oluwayemi and the youngster is a highly-rated goalkeeper at Spurs. He is yet to make his youth team debut for Tottenham and was an unused substitute in the same match that Okedina made his debut. Incidentally, it was the same match against Ipswich that turned heads at the White Hart Lane.
Oluwayemi is a very promising ‘keeper and has already been capped at U15 level by England. The two players have been promoted to the Tottenham Under-18 side and will be eligible to represent Spurs in the next season’s UEFA Youth League.
Mauricio Pochettino is one of the most well-known managers in the entire Premier League with an eye for youngsters. Several young players from our academy have already made their move up to the first team.
There is a lot to be achieved for both Oluwayemi and Okedina and there are lofty hopes on the highly-rated duo from Nigeria. The fans though would now want to see more signings for the first team. Tottenham is still the only Premier League side with no signing yet with Kyle Walker having already made his way out of the club.
Let’s see how things turn out in the next few weeks.
