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Tottenham Hotspur Links: Nathan Oduwa Returns Early from Loan Spell

By Alexander Balano

Jul 27, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mauricio Pochettino speaks during an All-Star press conference at Grand Hyatt. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 27, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mauricio Pochettino speaks during an All-Star press conference at Grand Hyatt. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports /
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Here’s the latest edition of Tottenham Hotspur Links to read.

There’s two stories to get to. The first is about 19-year-old midfielder, Nathan Oduwa, returning early from his season-long loan spell with Rangers of the Scottish Championship. Because he has fallen down the pecking order and hasn’t appeared since December 19, it makes sense to return to your parent club. With only 19 appearances since Oduwa moved to Glasgow, let’s hope it’s enough to convince Mauricio Pochettino that he still has a future with the team and can play this season.

Finally, Brendan Rodgers explains what had actually happened with the Dele Alli transfer situation. Previously, it was reported that certain members of Liverpool’s board weren’t in favor of giving a then-18-year-old starts in the Premier League because he wasn’t ready just yet. Ever since Alli moved to Tottenham however, a now-19-year-old has done well and even beyond everyone’s expectations. A missed opportunity for Rodgers and Liverpool. To the links down below.

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The 19-year-old midfielder has ended his season-long loan deal early to return to Spurs after last playing with Rangers on December 19. Tottenham had sent Oduwa along with center-back Dominic Ball to get extensive first-team experience with another team coached by Mark Warburton who last worked with Alex Pritchard at Championship side Brentford.

According to the Evening Times, Nathan Oduwa wasn’t able to consistently keep his form up and was dropped in favor of a forward line consisting of Barrie McKay, Kenny Miller and Martyn Waghorn.

While Oduwa’s time with the Gers was cut short, he still enjoyed a good start to his loan spell in Glasgow and hopes nothing but good things happens for the Scottish club in their quest to return to the Scottish Premiership.

“My time at Rangers has come to an end,” Nathan Oduwa said on Twiter.

“But I’d like to thank everyone associated with Rangers for making me feel at home both on and off the field.”

“I want to wish the players good luck for the rest of the season and hope they get Rangers back to the Scottish Premiership.”

With the midfielder returning to Tottenham it’ll be interesting to see where he fits in. Does he fill in for both Clinton N’Jie and Andros Townsend? Oduwa was hoping to extend his stay with Spurs and look to get a contract extension last August but no new terms had been agreed upon and signed.

Assuming that Mauricio Pochettino decides to keep the 19-year-old on his squad as a wide midfielder on both flanks, Nathan Oduwa’s pace could help stretch defenses when Érik Lamela or Christian Eriksen have to come off. Seeing as how Tottenham still need help at this area with N’Jie injured and Townsend frozen out of the team.

This isn’t surprising given the fact that Dele Alli is a Liverpool supporter and idolizes Steven Gerrard since the Miracle of Istanbul in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan.

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But the fact that Alli supported the Reds was just a bonus, as Brendan Rodgers knew what a talented then-18-year-old central midfielder was at MK Dons before Tottenham swooped in and finalized a £5 million deal. Plus receiving bonuses depending on Dele Alli making it into England’s national team squad and earning caps.

“We thought we had him at Liverpool,” Rodgers told Sky Sports.

“The manager of MK Dons actually drove him down to us. They played a game on the Saturday and we were playing West Ham on the Sunday.”

“We’d had contact with Dele, it was all above board, I was speaking with Karl Robinson and I spoke to Dele and his adoptive parents. I spent a couple of hours in a hotel room with him and he wanted to come to Liverpool. It was all about getting the deal done with the club but unfortunately it never got done.”

“On Saturday evening we thought it had got done but eventually he went to Tottenham, which was frustrating and disappointing. He’s done really well there.”

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Since Alli got a contract extension until 2021 and improved wages recently, the boyhood Liverpool fan is staying with Tottenham for the long haul and is one of the central pieces to Spurs’ Champions League qualifying spots as well as helping the Lilywhites become a dark horse in the Premier League title race.