Spurs announced today that Will Lankshear, a 19-year-old attacker, has committed to the team for a further five seasons by signing a new professional contract.
Spurs has secured a long-term contract for one of its best young players. Despite being only eighteen, Lankshear has been performing well beyond his years. This season, the Spurs academy team won the Premier League 2 with 32 goals he scored with the U21 squad. The new contract is a declaration of faith in the big lad’s potential as a future star for Spurs, as well as a reward for his fantastic season. He’s been nothing short of amazing for Tottenham this season.
Lankshear shares an age group with Dane Scarlett and Alejo Veliz, both strikers. All three have the potential to be solid players, but Lankshear may have the most promise of any of them. That doesn’t guarantee he’ll start for Tottenham Hotspur, but signing a five-year contract as an 18-year-old is a very strong signal that the Tottenham coaching staff thinks he might.
I like Spurs’ focus on finding and signing young talent for their development squad. Youth advancement is seldom linear (see Troy Parrott), and there’s always the possibility that we overhype a player, only to watch him become good rather than great.
That’s acceptable as well. Dreaming of players like Lankshear, who exhibit great promise as young players, is enjoyable. They even occasionally become aware of their potential. It’s great that Will will have five more years to do it as a Tottenham player.
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