Tottenham Hotspur have some high-profile talents in their academy, and one of the crisp upcoming midfielders through the lane at Hotspur Way is Callum Olusesi.
The midfielder is one of the cleanest players that has been coming through at N17 of late. He is not only calm on the ball but also has a way to always find his way out of traffic.
While still a teenager, he does look like someone who is built to play in the current positional structure deployed by Thomas Frank at Hotspur Way. He has that engine to press and the touch to keep play moving (more like flowing).
Now he does have all the raw tools in place, and now it is about bringing in more consistency to his performances alongside sharpening his decision-making to have him step towards integrating into the first team at N17.
Olusesi, a profile
Callum Olusesi is more of a central midfielder who prefers to have the ball on his right foot. He was born in London and has come through the academy at Tottenham. He has already registered appearances for U18s and U21s and has represented England at youth level.
He was part of the club’s U17 and U18 Premier League Cup double group, featured in the UEFA Youth League, and captained the side in 2025/26.
And Tottenham do realise his potential, as they have already started handing him some senior exposure. The teenager made his first-team debut as a late substitute in the Europa League league when Tottenham were playing Hoffenheim away in January 2025.
He also penned down terms with the Lilywhites which will see him tied up to the club till 2029.
A lot of what Olusesi does is a work of art
The first thing when you watch him is how he receives and releases the ball. He has his head up, takes a near first touch and puts in a first pass which is more like punching through the lines. Coaches will look at it with a big smile on their faces. It’s absolutely a work of art.
And it is not only in space; he is quite comfortable at receiving under pressure and playing on the half-turn to beat opponents’ press.
Ideally he fits a #8/#6 hybrid who keeps tempo high. He has that positional discipline which helps him play against rest defence, given how he tries to pinch passes through the lanes.
And if you watch him when he just loses a ball, he has that smart angle in counter-press, which is quite impressive at his age. This should help Tottenham trap opponents’ sequences in their structure, which will help Tottenham trap play centrally.
And lastly, what stays with me is the fact that he was given the armband in Europe for the academy. These are the kind of responsibilities that should help him speed up his maturity.
But he is not a finished product just yet
There are a lot of times when you look at him and think, Only if he added a bit more punch when he moves into the final third. While he is good at knitting sequences, he needs to add some key passes into his game. Even maybe an ability to put disguised through balls will raise his ceiling.
He has that clean technique as well, which he can maybe hone down the line in set-piece situations. There is a real potential in there as a player in Olusesi, but it is to be seen if Tottenham can bring that out and polish it into a first team star now.