Tottenham have confirmed that they have let five of their young talents leave at the end of their contracts in an announcement which hints at a shock number of deals for others.
The Lilywhites revealed via their official Twitter account and website that fringe figures Ryan Loft, Christian Maghoma, Luke O’Reilly, Joe Pritchard and Nick Tsaroulla were all leaving north London after their deals with the club came to an end.
Development Squad player update ?? https://t.co/vJBFPNviIt pic.twitter.com/zlwNP7aVTW
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 8, 2018
However, as reported previously by Twitter account Lilywhite Rose, a reliable source of youth team affairs at Spurs, there were several other names whose contracts were coming to an end this summer, with the official announcement hinting that they may have now had their stays extended at the club.
Further to a piece we wrote in January plenty of change in the Development Squad/Academy this summer.
Set to be released – Glover, O'Reily, Brown, Tsaroulla, Maghoma, Pritchard, Tracey, Loft, Harrison, Omolabi (Joined Reading), Lock.
Bennetts sold & expect Walkes to follow. https://t.co/NzdCLhpwvG
— Lilywhite Rose (@Lilywhite_Rose) May 21, 2018
Goalkeeper Thomas Glover, left back Jaden Brown, utility man Shilow Tracey, Shayon Harrison and defender Matthew Lock are the youngsters who seem to have been kept on, in what will come as a shock to many.
Opinion
Whether Spurs have had a late change of mind over their youngsters or just feel they can profit from their development and eventual sales, only those at the club will know. It seems strange that there were so many youngsters set for the exit and yet only five have been confirmed to go. Keeping a hold of the fringe figures, who may never make it to the first team, is simply blocking the path for more young talents to make that step up and Spurs may still have to let them go in a year or two. Tottenham have established a reputation of developing some of the top talents through their academy system and they may well be hoping to profit off the back of that, but the supporters want to see homegrown starlets breaking into the senior side, not being sold off for financial gain. It is a strange decision if the handful of youngsters have been handed new deals but Spurs are only doing what they feel is best for the club.