During his press conference on Tuesday, the 14th of January, Ange Postecoglu confirmed the possibility of young Tottenham Hotspur striker Will Lankshear being sent on loan during this January transfer window.
Ange suggests young striker could head out on a loan deal
When asked about the possibility of departures this month, Ange told Alasdair Gold: "We can't afford to let [senior] players go. There could be some young ones, like Alfie Dorrington has gone on loan, and young Will [Lankshear] could be [one to go on loan] as well."
Although the club had initially planned to loan the striker out last summer, he impressed during pre-season and they decided to keep him around, whilst loaning out fellow strikers Dane Scarlett and Alejo Veliz instead.
The teenager got his chance in the Europa League, starting first against Ferencvaros on match day two, then away to Galatasaray on match day four. In the first half against the Turkish giants, he got his name on the scoresheet - but picked up a red card, and has been barely seen since then.
In fact, an eight minute cameo in the 5-0 win over Southampton back in December was the only time he has seen the pitch since that defeat in Istanbul, which was over two months ago now. With Richarlison back from injury (although for how long, remains to be seen), and the consistent talk of a new forward - it is clear his chances for the rest of the season will be extremely limited.
Over the last couple of months, Dominic Solanke has been ran into the ground. Although it would be hard to justify starting Lankshear over him in a league game, the fact Timo Werner started ahead of the 19-year old in the game against Tamworth would have been surely tough to take. From there, the writing has clearly been on the wall for a loan.
Again, it is important that Spurs get the loan correct. Fans may want a loan to the Championship, but if the only way of getting game time is League One - then that is fine. It will be better to play in League One than sit on the bench in the Championship. Ask Dane Scarlett and Jamie Donley who has had the better loan of the two players so far this season - for example. Josh Keeley too.
This will definitely be a really interesting one to keep an eye on over the next two to three weeks.