There was a buzz about the talent on display as Tottenham Hotspur U19s took on Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Youth League at the training ground on Wednesday.
Jermain Defoe, now an academy coach at the club, sat in the stands and first team players Ryan Sessegnon, Djed Spence, Harvey White and Brandon Auston came across to the academy pitches at Hotspur Way to watch the game.
Summer Spurs arrivals behind the scenes - technical performance director Gretar Steinsson and head of football strategy Andy Scoulding - watched on as well before their boss, managing director of football Fabio Paratici, arrived to observe proceedings with academy manager Dean Rastrick and head of coaching Chris Powell.
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They were treated to a classic game of two halves from Spurs as the hosts dominated proceedings in the first half and were 2-0 up at the break only to concede three Frankfurt goals in the frantic opening eight minutes of the second half, which they could not find a way back from despite hitting the woodwork in the second half through Romaine Mundle's curling effort.
Spurs have plenty of defensive talents coming through, although that mad spell early in the second period belied that. On this day it was the attacking players who gave a tantalising glimpse of the club's future in the first half, even if they could not find a way back in the second.
Alfie Devine and Jamie Donley ran the show in that first half. Devine, who signed a new contract until 2027 last month, should be playing senior football in the Football League right now.
A hamstring injury suffered towards the end of the summer thwarted the club's plans to send him out loan. Devine, who only turned 18 in August and signed from Wigan in the summer of 2020, had hoped to go out on loan last season but the club decided to continue to develop him behind the scenes.
The result was 11 goals and three assists from midfield in 20 matches in Premier League 2 and the FA Youth Cup. Devine had become Spurs' youngest ever goalscorer with his FA Cup strike at Marine in January 2021 under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte has already recognised the talent of the teenager last season, naming him on the bench three times in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup.
At U19 level, Devine looks like a senior player in an academy match. There are still moments of youthful decision-making that will be ironed out with experience but he has an awareness of what is going on around and when to run that belies his years.
His two first half goals were the perfect example of that. For the first he ran on to a Donley pass with great timing, beating the offside trap to round the Frankfurt goalkeeper Matteo Bignetti and then show the composure to fire pass the sliding covering defender on the line.
The second goal before the break came from a near identical situation with Donley playing a clever reverse pass into the run of Devine and this time the 18-year-old struck a clinical finish into the bottom left corner.
If he remains fit, Devine will likely be heading out on loan in January and there will be no shortage of suitors for him. Dane Scarlett's successful loan to League One side Portsmouth will have given the club the perfect pointer to the right level for fellow talent Devine to follow his fellow England U19 international and develop. The duo won the European U19 Championships together for their country in the summer.
Donley is another who is highly regarded at Spurs. Normally a striker, the 17-year-old has been operating in midfield in games this season, partly to continue to round out his game and also partly due to the lack of options in the centre of the pitch for the team. In Spurs' 4-3-3, Devine and Donley were playing either side of the more defensive captain Matthew Craig, who was sent off in the final moments on for what was deemed to be a stamp.
While Tottenham found themselves dominated in those eight minutes after the break as three Frankfurt half-time changes made the difference, they did wrestle control back after that. The formation had given both young attackers the licence to create going forward and for a clinical striker, Donley showed that he has the vision to pull back into a deeper role as a number 10.
Both of his assists for Devine were delightfully spotted and weighted and he swept the ball around the pitch on numerous occasions like a natural midfielder.
Last season Donley netted 16 goals and six assists in 18 games for Tottenham in the U18 Premier League and the challenge now for him is to transfer that to the next level and the development squad. The 17-year-old has one goal in his 12 appearances this season, having stepped up to Wayne Burnett's U21 squad, his goal coming for the U19s in the UEFA Youth League. The step back into midfield has played its part in the fewer number of goals but the talent is clearly there and Donley will adapt to the next step up as he and Devine both will need to when games go against them.
Then there is Will Lankshear, who came off the bench after Frankfurt's three-goal blitz in the second half. Among the many recent changes in Spurs' scouting network under Paratici there were also new emerging talent scout appointments in the summer, including Chris Scudder, who worked at West Ham, Derby, Brentford and Leeds previously.
Those new scouts were heavily involved in Spurs' signing of the highly-rated 17-year-old Sheffield United striker towards the end of the transfer window for a reported £2m fee.
Lanskhear is now fit after a small injury and a lack of pre-season, having worked with the fitness and conditioning staff. The big striker made his debut in the week with some style, netting twice from the bench to grab Spurs a share of the spoils in their 3-3 draw with Wolves in the U18 Premier League Cup.
"It's been quite a frustrating time for the past couple of weeks. I had a slight injury but that's ok now," Lankshear said in an interview with SpursPlay. "The conditioning staff and physios, I can't thank them enough. They've got me into a brilliant shape to score and help the team out. They put me in at the right time and I can't thank them enough."
"You couldn't have written it better, scoring that late equaliser on my debut, it felt like a winner. To score a goal in that way, I just wanted to come on and make an impact and do my best for the team. To score two goals though and help the team to an important point in the group, I'm buzzing."
Spurs have high hopes for Lankshear, hence paying out relatively big money for a youngster who had yet to make his senior bow. His cameo against Frankfurt was brief and the service in to him was not great but as he gets sharper so the goals will continue to come for the teenager.
A word also for Mundle who has been bright down the wing this season and 15-year-old Mikey Moore, who scored in that game with Lankshear against Wolves and came off the bench late on against Frankfurt. The England U16 centre-forward is another talent who is playing up the age groups and making a big impression.
There is still plenty of work to be done by these players and their coaches at Spurs but coming up behind Dane Scarlett, the club have some young attacking talents that the supporters will need to watch very closely in the years ahead.
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