Tottenahm Hotspur star attacking midfielder James Maddison is, to the surprise of absolutely nobody at this point, out injured yet again with a dislocated shoulder. He went down hard during the second half of the lost to Brentford not long after coming on the pitch, and he will end up missing a few weeks with the ailment.
Both starter Xavi Simons and emergency option Wilson Odobert are out with torn ACLs, so the only fully fit senior attacking midfielder in the coming weeks is Conor Gallagher. And Tottenham fans are about sick of the England international, as he confirmed his low level with a beyond horrible display as the No. 10 against Brentford.
Though Gallagher did play decently well as an 8 when Roberto De Zerbi first took over as Tottenham manager at the end of the 2025/26 Premier League season, he was woeful before that and really outdid himself in the blowout 3-0 loss to the Bees at the Gtech Stadium. Many Tottenham Hotspur fans do not want to see Gallagher as the 10 ever again, and they cannot be blamed for that stance one bit.
Luca Williams-Barnett is back on the radar
But Tottenham do have another option available in academy star Luca Williams-Barnett, who announced himself to everyone with a tremendous preseason. After Mathys Tel, he was probably Spurs best player in the friendly matches, showing an ease and class about himself with the ball at his feet to break the lines and progress play, which none of the current No. 10's have with Odobert and Simons injured.
Roberto De Zerbi said of Williams-Barnett before the Second Round League Cup game against Charlton Athletic, "Luca Williams-Barnett comes on the bench. My idea was to play him second half in Brentford but unfortunately it was not the right moment to put him on the pitch. I can't forget the young players. I have big respect for the academy, they deserve to have satisfaction from the young players and he's a potential big player for the club."
Clearly, based on that, Luca Williams-Barnett is going to get chances this season, and he is 100 percent going to get opportunities with James Maddison injured over Conor Gallagher, especially if the latter does not improve despite De Zerbi having an affinity to him. And LWB did get a good 15 minutes of action in the League Cup, which will tease more minutes, including off the bench. If he takes those minutes, who knows where he could go after that?
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