Tottenham Hotspur striker Dane Scarlett is impressing Portsmouth manager Danny Cowley out on his season-long loan on the south coast.
And Alasdair Gold believes the Pompey manager’s recent comments will excite Antonio Conte as they highlight the youngster’s willingness to play for the team.
Scarlett departed N17 in the summer and signed on loan for the League One side and made an incredibly promising start to life with the lower league outfit.
However, his impressive start in front of goal in the league has taken somewhat of a hit with his three goals inside September failing to be added to (via Transfermarkt).
But it is apparent he is doing something right in the Pompey side having started 14 times in the league under Cowley which saw the manager hail his worth ethic in a recent interview:
“Dane – wow! I don’t think I’ve seen a number nine defend from the front like that in all my days watching football,” he said.
To which Gold suggested:
(34:00) “Danny Cowley said last week, he scored against [Ipswich] he said about Dane Scarlett’s performance. It was the best defensive performance he’d seen from a striker in 15 years of coaching. Just the way he worked off the ball.
“And Conte will love that. That’s exactly what he wants. Conte says, you know, he’s said he’s going to be a big player. It’s now all about him.”
TIF Thoughts on Gold’s comments…
We would expect this will definitely please Conte given the role he has Harry Kane playing for Spurs where his game has become much more well-rounded in terms of helping the team as a whole.
Do you expect Scarlett to succeed Harry Kane?
Yes
No
It is a shame the goals have dried up for Scarlett in the league, however, at such a young age still the exposure to men’s first-team football will surely be helping his development massively.
Before his loan away, Scarlett was restricted to irregular, brief cameos off the bench and games in the Spurs youth set up where he proved himself far too good for that level.
It is also a shame Scarlett will not get an outing in the FA Cup next month given it was his parent club, Spurs, who Pompey drew.