There was this decision that the chiefs in the cubicles at Hotspur Way had to make with regard to the academy’s golden boy, Mickey Moore, as the teenager moves away from Hotspur Way for the upcoming season. Now this decision has got a lot of the Lilywhites supporters perplexed, given how much all of them were looking to cheer for him and follow his progress sitting on the seats at Tottenham Hotspur stadium, but this is a decision that is far more strategic than it may appear at first glance.
Sending him to Rangers is not your everyday developmental loan deal; this one is a high-stakes transfer that is carefully calculated in trying to fast-track the development of someone who is regarded as one of the brightest academy talents into the first-team frame at N17.
And sketching on the notepad on the why, I realised that this loan matters now more than ever.
See, Moore is only 17, and he has already put his name in the history books as the youngest Premier League debutant for the North Londoners and the youngest English scorer in major European competition.
But given that Thomas Frank’s squad at Tottenham has a lot of attacking depth at the moment, then his minutes at N17 would be quite restricted, and that is where Rangers comes into the picture…
Moore will be playing in front of 50k fans every week
Now Rangers is a club that is quite valuable when it comes to what it gives in terms of exposure that it is going to give to Moore, given that he will be at a place where he will be getting some valuable meaningful starts in a team that is chasing domestic trophies and European qualification. So this puts Moore into a pressure cooker early in his career, and it also gets him ready to return to Tottenham with that mentality to get points on the table.
While many would suggest that playing in the Scottish Premiership may end up not giving him that exposure of playing in England’s top flight, which is much more physical and pacey. But the thing at play at Rangers is that Moore will be forced to grow (and that so quite fast).
It is very different to play in U21 games when you compare it with the pressure to deliver in front of 50,000 fans at Ibrox every week.
Rangers’ new gaffer Russell Martin described Moore as “brave” and “aggressive,” and those would exactly be the traits the Scottish game will either expose or harden in the teenager, and this is where talent meets tenacity at Ibrox.
Tottenham had a lot of suitors for Moore
Moore is one of those players who has been well renowned to have this massive ceiling, and Tottenham were not short of suitors for a loan exit this summer, with Birmingham and West Brom making moves to secure his signatures, but Rangers can give him a different exposure. Now instead of fighting for scraps in the second tier in England or warming the bench in the Premier League, he will walk into a dressing room where there is this expectation from him to influence games and fight for silverware.
You also learn a lot of leadership when given these sorts of responsibilities, and the Lilywhites academy graduate is about to get plenty of it.
A move to Scotland motivated by beyond minutes
This isn’t a loan transfer that does not come with a lot of question marks; this one is part of a blueprint that chiefs at N17 would have decided given that Tottenham will want their prized gem sharpened and seasoned when he comes back. He would need to be at a point where he is ready to challenge the likes of Kulusevski, Johnson, and even Maddison in the upcoming seasons.
And his enthusiasm is not solely professional; it is also personal given that he described this loan more as a “massive opportunity,” which is definitely fuelled by his admiration for Rangers, confidence in the project, and this motivation that he has to develop and help.
It looks like he is not merely showing up for some game time under his belt but much more; the teenager is looking to make a difference and get some knowledge while taking on a leadership role and ensure that he returns to N17 as a better player.
What do you make of this loan transfer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
