In his latest article for Football.london, Alasdair Gold has been discussing some of the Spurs youngsters who could potentially have an impact on the first-team next season.
One such player, in Gold’s opinion, is 18-year-old winger J’Neil Bennett. The academy player is yet to make a first-team appearance for the North London club, but does hold the honour of having scored the first goal in Spurs’ new stadium; curling home the opening goal in a 3-1 win against a Southampton U18 side.
Although Spurs have the likes of Heung-Min Son, Steven Bergwijn, Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura all available as wingers in their first-team squad, Gold clearly believes in Bennett’s potential, saying:
“The speedy England U18 international is a versatile attacker, able to play on either wing or up front if required.
“Bennett made history last season as the first-ever goalscorer at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, curling a wonderful, fitting shot into the net as the U18s beat Southampton in the first test event at the stadium, in front of almost 30,000 fans.
“With his driving pace, trickery and ability to cut in from the left and score spectacular goals, we’re going for the next Son Heung-min if Bennett fulfils his potential.” (per Football.London)
Can Bennett go on to become as good as Heung-Min Son?
Yes
No
TIF Tactics:
Spurs are arguably well-stocked in the number of wingers they have in the first-team squad but Bennett could well force his way into Jose Mourinho’s thinking if he continues to impress in the academy squads. According to Transfermarkt, the 18-year-old has contributed an impressive 16 goals and eight assists in his 35 appearances for the U18 squad, so perhaps he isn’t too far off earning his first appearance for the senior side.
It will be interesting to see if the winger will be given any game-time for the Lilywhites next season, or whether he could maybe be sent out on loan to aid his development further. He is also compared to Heung-Min Son by Gold, which will no doubt go down well with Spurs fans; considering the South Korean has scored 83 goals in 220 appearances for the Lilywhites.