Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the League Cup on Wednesday night when they were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle United at St. James’ Park.
Although it was a difficult away match against the defending champions of the competition, there was an opportunity for Thomas Frank to provide some young players with an opportunity to impress.
The Danish tactician had the likes of James Roswell, Luca Gunter, and Dane Scarlett on the bench, but did not hand a single minute to an academy graduate on the night.
Meanwhile, their local rivals, Arsenal, started four academy graduates in their 2-0 win over Brighton, with Max Dowman starting on the wing at the age of 15.
Tottenham’s most valuable former academy players
Bringing through academy talent can save the club millions of pounds, as a young star emerging from the U21s prevents any need to buy a player in their position.
How much would it have cost to sign Kane, who scored 280 goals for Spurs, in his prime? Transfermarkt suggests his value peaked at £132m, which illustrates how beneficial it can be to provide young players with an opportunity to shine.
Tottenham’s most valuable former academy stars
Player
Market value
Harry Kane
£66m
Noni Madueke
£44m
Troy Parrott
£14m
Mikey Moore
£14m
Kyle Walker-Peters
£13m
As you can see in the table above, there are not too many valuable players who have come through the Spurs academy and gone on to establish themselves at the elite level.
Madueke is the other most notable example, other than Kane, and he did not play a single game for Tottenham at first-team level before his moves to Chelsea and Arsenal.
Frank, now, can help Spurs to find their next big academy graduate by making Luca Williams-Barnett his own Max Dowman this season.
Why Williams-Barnett can be Tottenham’s own Dowman
The Tottenham youngster is not quite as young as the Arsenal forward, as he turned 17 at the start of October, but he is still an incredibly young and promising talent.
Williams-Barnett, who was dubbed “special” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, played eight minutes off the bench against Doncaster in the League Cup earlier this season, but Spurs were already 2-0 up against the League One outfit when he came on.
A real show of faith in academy talent is to put them in difficult situations and positions to see how they fare; 15-year-old Dowman starting against Premier League side Brighton in the League Cup for Arsenal on Wednesday, for example.
Williams-Barnett, per Transfermarkt, has scored eight goals and provided seven assists in 11 games in all competitions for the U21s this season.
Meanwhile, Micky van de Ven and Richarlison are the top goalscorers in the first-team at Premier League level, per Sofascore, with three goals each.
Williams-Barnett, who analyst Ben Mattinson claimed “scores bangers”, also plundered 20 goals and 12 assists in 23 matches in all competitions at academy level in the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore.
These statistics show that the 17-year-old attacking midfielder, who can play centrally or out wide, has the potential to deliver goals and assists for the first-team if he can carry his performances over to senior level, which may be needed given that Van de Ven is their joint-top scorer in the Premier League.
However, it is down to Frank to unearth his talent by unleashing him in the senior side this season, as Mikel Arteta has done with Dowman, to throw him in at the deep end and see if his ability allows him to swim.
