Luca Williams-Barnett is only 17 years old, but like Luka Vuskovic in last summer's preseason, the young center midfielder has suddenly become the biggest story of the offseason for Tottenham Hotspur and is legitimately playing his way into contention in the first team squad this season.
It may sound too early to say all of that, but LWB has been so good this preseason that he is outshining almost every other player in the squad and looks every bit as ready as other top young players Mateus Fernandes and Archie Gray to take the fight, regardless of the level of competition Spurs are admittedly facing in the preseason tour abroad.
Now, it isn't just the fans who have taken notice of WIlliams-Barnett and his quality, as Roberto De Zerbi is also full of praise for the uber confidence and skilled teenage player. After another strong performance against Sydney FC in the Final of the friendly tournament, De Zerbi is heaping even more praise on the young man's shoulders.
LWB's stocks are through the roof
De Zerbi told reporters after the game, via Hotspur Lane, "He is a precious diamond. We have to work on him in the final third and he must work hard on his physicality. I've worked with a lot of young players in my time and he's a potentially special player."
When Roberto De Zerbi starts throwing around words like "special" and "precious diamond", you know he has fallen for a young player and has huge plans for him. And as De Zerbi says, he coached a lot of incredible young prospects at Brighton, Shakhtar Donetsk, Marseille, and even Sassuolo, so if he is putting Luca Williams-Barnett, then that speaks volumes to where he sees LWB and where he wants to take him in 2026 and beyond.
If LWB can keep this up in the preseason for Tottenham Hotspur, then there is no telling how far he can go. He is making other top prospects at the club like Mikey Moore look quite ordinary by comparison, and that is less of a slight on Moore and more of a means of praising Williams-Barnett for just how far long he is.
And he has a different kind of mentality with how he plays the game that De Zerbi will be very attracted to as a manager. He loves these kinds of technical players who play the game in midfield with no fear, and Tottenham fans will also love that RDZ sees him the way they do.
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