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Spurs’ Pursuit of Youngsters Could Pose a Problem

By Alexander Balano

CRAWLEY, WEST SUSSEX - MAY 03: James Maddison of Coventry celebrates after scoring to make it 2-1 during the Sky Bet League One match between Crawley Town and Coventry City at The Checkatrade.com Stadium on May 3, 2015 in Crawley, West Sussex. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)
CRAWLEY, WEST SUSSEX - MAY 03: James Maddison of Coventry celebrates after scoring to make it 2-1 during the Sky Bet League One match between Crawley Town and Coventry City at The Checkatrade.com Stadium on May 3, 2015 in Crawley, West Sussex. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) /
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Spurs are showing more interest in Coventry City’s James Maddison and Charlton Athletic’s Ademola Lookman.

According to the London Evening Standard Spurs are ready to sign 19-year-old James Maddison for £5 million and loan him back to Coventry City for the remainder of the season. If a deal is agreed, then it will be reminiscent of Tottenham and MK Dons’ transfer involving Dele Alli in last January’s transfer window.

And because Maddison is being touted as the “next Dele Alli”, if he has just a fraction of the talent that Alli has right now, a signing makes sense to get done. Now should the English midfielder be signed and loaned back, what happens once he joins Spurs in the summer?

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For starters, Maddison will be embroiled in a battle at both attacking and central midfield — which are two positions that he can play in. As is, there’s too many players who can play at attacking mid and central mid, making this acquisition exciting, promising, and worrying at the same time.

Because Mauricio Pochettino will first have to decide if James Maddison is more suited to play as Tottenham’s #10 or #8. But even then, it’s still not easy to figure out. For the time being, James Maddison wouldn’t be able to crack into the first team so a loan back to the Sky Blues is ideal for him.

It’ll be the same situation for Ademola Lookman, whether he signs as a striker or left winger. With the amount of players that Pochettino has brought in who are all versatile and can play multiple positions, and the fact that he continues to look for versatility. A loan back to Charlton Athletic to finish the season is fine.

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As it stands, if both James Maddison and Ademola Lookman are signed, following their loan spells the logical choice would be to put them in the youth academy and allow them to grow alongside Josh Onomah, Harry Winks and Shilow Tracey.

This can help Mauricio Pochettino see all five players’ progress and how close they are to becoming a regular on the first team for the foreseeable future.

Because in the meantime, Mauricio Pochettino will have to figure out which players will have to go in order to bring in the next wave of youth talent.

If certain players had to be sold to make room, four names that could be on the transfer market are Ryan Mason, Tom Carroll, Christian Eriksen and Alex Pritchard. A bonus is Mousa Dembélé.

Granted there shouldn’t be any problem if Mason and Carroll are sold, but potentially seeing Eriksen, Pritchard and Dembélé leave will cause problems. All five players are good in their own rights, but with Spurs’ current squad, there isn’t enough room to fit everyone and give equal playing even if Tottenham don’t get knocked out of the League Cup next season.

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It’s exciting to see Spurs going after young players and signing them to create a team where the best domestic and foreign youth talent can join and play for them. But it ultimately means that fan favorites or skilled players will eventually have to be sold in order to give others a chance. Seeing as how it’s highly unlikely that players nowadays are content to sit on the bench and not want to contribute.