Tottenham Hotspur have established a policy to trust young players within the corridors of Hotspur Way, and we saw this in the past season with how Daniel Levy time and again pushed for high-potential young players over establishing signings, and now the North Londoners might have a future star on their hands again, and the Lilywhites supporters are not talking about him enough.
If we talk about the defence at Hotspur Way, there is a clear preference given that when Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are fit, the duo are near to untouchable at the heart of the defence, but if we peek behind the scenes, the Lilywhites may be grooming the next big thing, and he has just taken his first major step as Junai Byfield signs a scholarship contract at N17.
Byfield pens down a new deal at N17
Byfield is already taking strides internationally as he establishes himself as a part of England’s youth setup, and he is not just warming the bench over there, given that the 16-year-old has started every game for his age group. And John Wenham, owner of the reputed Spurs podcast, didn’t hold back in his praise. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Tottenham News, he said:
“Byfield, for me, is the best central defender of his age across the entire country.
“And that’s backed up by the fact that he always starts for England at every age group level he’s in.
“Powerful on the ball, scores goals, a real leader, has already trained for Tottenham’s first team on multiple occasions. He is a player Tottenham really like.”
And now with a couple of years scholarship penned down, Byfield will be expected to move up into the U21 setup at Hotspur Way this season, and from there he will have a direct opportunity to impress Thomas Frank.
Byfield and Vuskovic? The next-gen Tottenham defence
And from everything we saw last weekend, we know that Byfield is not the only young defender with his potential within the corridors at Hotspur Way, with Luka Vuskovic making his mark in his first appearance for the North Londoners against Reading, where he was electric.
The Croatian grabbed an assist and a goal in just 47 minutes, where he set up academy striker Will Lankshear with a flicked header before finding the net himself. And that is exactly an announcement that meets all the buzz surrounding him before his arrival at Tottenham.
Many regard Vuskovic so highly that they term him one of the best young defenders in Europe, and let’s be honest, his debut showed us exactly why. And if Byfield were to follow on the same path, the Lilywhites defence could be in very safe hands for at least the next decade (maybe more).