Tottenham beat Japan youth international side
By Tom Vinall
According to Twitter user Lilywhite Rose, Tottenham Hotspur beat a Japan youth international side 5-2 in a friendly played behind closed doors on Thursday.
The Spurs' goals came courtesy of a brace from Will Lankshear, a brace from Mikey Moore, and a further goal from Alejo Veliz.
You can never have too many takeaways from friendly games, but Spurs fans will no doubt be encouraged that three forwards delivered once again in this pre-season, given the issues Spurs had there last season.
Alejo Veliz spent the first half of last season at Spurs, although only registered 70 minutes of football, scoring in the defeat at Brighton in December. Fans still remember how he was ready to tap home a 96th minute winner in the win against Liverpool before Joel Matip got there first.
He spent the second half on loan in La Liga with Sevilla, playing just six league games and starting none of them. It felt at the time like a loan for the sake of it rather than with any idea on how it would fit. In general, loans are something Spurs need to improve with if they want the optimal development for all of their young players.
READ MORE: Spurs waiting for green light on three players
Tottenham beat Japan youth international side
Moore has very much impressed in pre-season, having made a couple of first-team cameos at the back end of last season. It appears his work will soon be rewarded with a new contract, with fans glad that one of the club's brightest prospects, if not the biggest, will be tied down long-term.
Will Lankshear signed a long-term contract until 2029 himself earlier this month, and reports say that the young forward has been impressing a lot in pre-season training so far, more so than the likes of Veliz and Dane Scarlett, and thus earned his start at Hearts last week.
He is expected to go on loan this summer, with lots of Championship and League one interest. As mentioned above, Spurs are often careless when loaning players, and it is important that Lankshear gets the right loan, where he will play games, and in a team that suits him. If this means a loan to League One instead of the Championship, then it is worth it. Starting 35-40 League One games would be much better for him than 5-10 in the Championship.
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