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Tottenham Hotspur Youth Prospect, Shayon Harrison, Is Making Some Noise

By Alexander Balano

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Tottenham Hotspur have another future talent on their hands and that is 18-year-old striker Shayon Harrison on Spurs’ second team.

For those of you who are keeping tabs on Shayon Harrison, you are all probably well aware of the 18-year-old striker and what he would bring to the first team within a couple of seasons. If there are some people who aren’t familiar with Shayon Harrison, that’s where this article will help out, which will look at why the 18-year-old will be a future star for Tottenham very soon.

Player profile:
Name: Shayon Harrison
Age: 18 (born: July 13, 1997)
Hometown: Hornsey, England (north London/London Borough of Haringey)
Nationality: English (with Jamaican heritage)

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Shayon Harrison has been with the Club, since joining Tottenham’s Under-10 group. The center forward can play as a secondary striker and right winger as well, giving him two extra positions to play in, should he be promoted to the first team and Mauricio Pochettino decides to utilize him differently.

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Rising up the ranks to the Under-18 group — like every youth talent does — Harrison would stand out from the rest of his peers by cementing himself as a very good finisher at a young age. Having other great skills such as pace, athleticism, acceleration and shooting are good to have. But strikers must possess the ability to finish first.

Shayon Harrison’s track record suggests that he is a good finisher when looking at his numbers in the Under-18 and Under-21 Premier Leagues. Here are the numbers below during a two-and-a-half year span.

  • 2013-14: 12 goals in 22 appearances | U-18 BPL (first season)
  • 2014-15: 15 goals in 18 appearances | U-18 BPL (finished as the top scorer)
  • 2014-15: 1 goal in 7 appearances | U-21 BPL (used sporadically)
  • 2015-16: 4 goals in 8 appearances | U-21 BPL (season is still on-going)

Adding up all of these goals and appearances in the two youth level leagues, Shayon Harrison has already accumulated 32 goals in 55 appearances. Based on numbers alone, it’s hard to deny that Shayon Harrison isn’t “for real” when he can practically score at will with the ball at his feet, when given scoring chances.

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Scoring 30+ goals in only two-plus seasons is already quite the haul for an 18-year-old who obviously still has plenty of room to grow to become a much better striker. Not to mention that the 2015-16 Under-21 Premier League season won’t end until May 2016.

With Harry Kane the presumptive striker for Mauricio Pochettino’s starting eleven, Shayon Harrison — and Shaq Coulthirst for that matter — will only become the team’s third choice option at striker. A backup striker would be a toss up between Heung-Min Son, Clinton N’Jie and Nacer Chadli. Although all three currently play at different positions on the team, these are the only options that Pochettino would have if he needed a backup striker.

Make no mistake though, Mauricio Pochettino is well aware that Harry Kane is the only recognized striker, but he doesn’t accept that proposition that people are claiming (even though everyone is actually right). Right now, Shayon Harrison is a youth prospect who is showing immense promise at the Under-21 Premier League. It’ll be a season or two at the very least before he gets promoted to the first team.

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However, should the English international continue his impressive form and finish the 2015-16 Under-21 Premier League season as one of the top goal scorers. It’s very possible that Mauricio Pochettino will bring Shayon Harrison along with the first team during Tottenham’s post and pre-season tours during the summer.

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