In cooperation with Goal light Football zone twice a week young players who can go far in the future or who are already earning their spurs in (inter)national top football. This time the focus is on the 17-year-old Dane Scarlett. He is the youngest player to ever act on behalf of Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and is tipped by none other than Jose Mourinho as a future global player.
Considering how important Harry Kane has been to Tottenham in recent years, you can’t blame the fans for being quite panicked as it looks as though the top scorer may be saying goodbye to the squad. His potential departure to Manchester City would be a huge blow to Nuno Espirito Santo’s team. And the team has been in a downward spiral anyway since the departure of Mauricio Pochettino in 2019.
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Since Kane made his debut for . ten years ago the Spurs, he has become one of the best finishers in the world. Last season he became the player with the most goals and the most assists in the Premier League, as he has worked hard in recent years on his combination game, which has made him even more complete. Tottenham absolutely does not want to lose him, but a departure to the extremely rich City seems gradually inevitable.
The good news for grieving Spurs fans, however, is that there is a good chance that a new striker from their own youth academy will take over at Tottenham and possibly also the national team in the long term. That is expected from Dane Scarlett, who turned seventeen in March, who has only played three games in the main squad so far. A lot of pressure of course, but his performances at youth level suggest that ‘the new Kane’ is on the way.
Scarlett scored continuously in the youth teams last season and in the preparation also proves that he can easily find the goal in the main squad.
“With Dane Scarlett, Tottenham – if all goes well – has a player who will do phenomenal things,” former Spurs coach Jose Mourinho recently predicted in conversation with The Times when asked about the future of the England national team. The Portuguese became convinced of this when he experienced him up close in London last year, confirming the image that Tottenham’s policymakers have had of the goal thief for years.
Scarlett joined the youth academy at the age of 6. the Spurs, while spending the rest of his time at Harefield Academy. This is a school that combines education with top sport, whose most famous schoolgoer is called Jadon Sancho. He then played at Watford as a youth and then moved on to Manchester City. Scarlett, however, always stayed with Tottenham, where he made his Under-18 debut at the age of 15.
The striker would only play four games, until a serious knee injury in November 2019 already ended his season. That is a heavy blow to any footballer, but especially at such a crucial age. Once recovered, however, Scarlett appeared to have lost nothing in speed or maneuverability. He had 12 goals and four assists in his first 11 games in the 2020/21 season. In addition, he made his debut in the main squad on November 26, 2020, when he was allowed to substitute in the Europa League against Ludogorets.
Scarlett became the youngest debutant in Tottenham Hotspur’s club history on his debut against Ludogorets.
He became Tottenham’s youngest ever debutant for a while at the age of 16 years and 247 days. He would soon lose that record again, as a few weeks later the slightly younger Alfie Devine made his appearance in the FA Cup, against the semi-pros of Marine. However, Scarlett has managed to maintain another club record. He is still Tottenham’s youngest debutant in the Premier League. In February of this year, he took on West Brom at the age of 16 years and 320 days and that cannot be broken by Devine.
“The fact that such a young boy can fill in means a lot for the youth academy. It also means a lot to the kid because he’s only 16 and it means a lot to me because I wanted to be the one to give him a chance in the Premier League. I’m sure he’ll be a real one for years to come somebody will be,” Mourinho said after the game against West Brom BBC Radio 5 Live. Moreover, it wouldn’t be the last time the Portuguese spoke full of praise for Scarlett’s potential.
“He is a diamond, a boy with incredible potential,” Mourinho added in February BT Sport. “He already often trains with the first team. I absolutely believe he will join the first team next season, because he has a lot of talent. He’s going to be a fantastic player and I hope he continues to thrive. He’s a striker, a number nine, but I sometimes see him coming from the flanks like Marcus Rashford. He is very smart at his game. I really hope nothing gets in the way of its potential. He has to stay humble and think carefully, because he really has a lot to offer.”
Mourinho, who has since left Tottenham, has now, as AS Roma coach, nothing more to say about Scarlett’s chances in the first team. the Spurs, because that decision rests with Nuno Espirito Santo. He must now make the decision and will no doubt have seen Scarlett score 25 goals in just 24 appearances for the Under-23 and Under-18 last season, while the youngster has also shown in preparation for the new season in to score the main force.
Tottenham will play directly against defending champions Manchester City in the first round of competition on Sunday and because Kane’s availability for the game with his intended new employer is highly questionable, there is a good chance that his future successor will be given a starting place immediately. Former captain Ledley King likes it, he tells Spurs TV. “He is a born finisher and that is something that is very difficult to learn. He just has that. He always knows exactly what he is doing in the penalty area and has a great shot with both feet. He has all the attributes in house and is able to turn everything to his will.”
Reading that last quote without context, it could very well be about the great Harry Kane, so that’s exactly why many fans believe Scarlett should eventually be deemed capable of making the England national team captain forget at Tottenham . Of course you can’t expect that from a seventeen-year-old promise at the moment, but with the Spurs one can only hope that Kane’s impending farewell has opened the door for the next phenomenal striker from their own youth academy.