It is not every year Tottenham can say they have had a number of successful loan moves. This season is different, however.
Manor Solomon has taken his game to a whole new level at Leeds United, Jamie Donley and Josh Keeley are both thriving at Leyton Orient, Ashley Phillips and Alfie Devine are getting valuable minutes in the tank for Stoke City and Westerlo respectively and Bryan Gil is making a big impression back in Spain for Girona. Amid all the positive loans, there is another one that ranks incredibly highly in this campaign's success stories but has maybe gone under the radar slightly.
The player in question is George Abbott, who is enjoying a real breakout season in the senior game with Notts County. His first loan move away from Tottenham, the 19-year-old is making waves in League Two and playing a big part in the Magpies' promotion push.
Abbott has made such an impression that Notts County boss Stuart Maynard believes the teenager has an extremely bright future ahead of him and that he can go on to play in Tottenham's first team.
“I think he can go all the way to the top, he’s been so consistent from minute one I feel he’s getting better game-by-game,” he said in January (via NottsTV)
“We’re absolutely delighted that he’s with us, he’s got a bright future and I believe that at some stage he’ll play in Spurs’ first team."
Abbott has in fact already played for Tottenham's first team after making his senior bow off the bench at Leeds United on the final day of the 2022/23 season. Ryan Mason was the man who handed Abbott his debut and he was full of praise for the starlet when speaking in his post-match press conference.
Although Abbott wasn't to make an appearance in the first-team squad last season under Ange Postecoglou, it was a very successful year for the player as he captained Tottenham to Premier League 2 success after they beat Sunderland in the play-off final at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Needing to take the next step in his development, the Islington-born player was given the green light to depart on loan in the summer after a handful of pre-season appearances and he headed for Notts County.
His move to Meadow Lane has proved to be extremely successful so far, with Abbott making 26 appearances in all competitions for his team and contributing with four goals and four assists in the process. The player has scored a couple of screamers as well, most notably a vicious, swerving strike at Cheltenham Town in December and an eye-catching volley at Accrington Stanley the following month.
Mainly operating in the holding role in midfield, Abbott is a Notts County regular and has started 22 of his 24 League Two appearances, playing the full 90 minutes in all but four. The Magpies have had some high-profile names represent them on loan in the past, including Jack Grealish, Ryan Yates and Callum McGregor, thus seeing the Tottenham youngster earn comparisons with the trio in the process.
"It's always an amazing thing for the fans to sort of compare me to the brilliant players that have moved on from Notts County to where they are now," Abbott told BBC East Midlands Today. "I hope I can carry on from where they left off, be my own player and get to the level they are now."
There have been notable examples in the past where Tottenham have recalled players from successful loan spells and immediately sent them to a higher division. That has not happened with Abbott, though, and he remains a Notts player until the end of the campaign.
Going on his successful time in League Two this term, a move up to a higher division looks likely in 2025/26. Before that, however, Postecoglou and Spurs may want to keep a close eye on the player over the course of pre-season as they plan ahead for the future.
Youngsters are always given a shot in the summer friendlies and that may well be the case for Abbott again in July and August. Tottenham appear to have another star on their hands, with Abbott perhaps someone who may go slightly under the radar at a time when Mikey Moore, Donley and Keeley are the ones firmly in the headlines.
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