Good news, everyone! Today Tottenham Hotspur announced that 19-year old forward Will Lankshear has signed a new professional contract at Spurs that will keep him at the club for the next five seasons.
Lankshear’s been playing above his years, scoring 32 goals in the PL2 with the U21 team at age 18 as Spurs’ academy squad raced to the PL2 title this season. He’s a big lad and has been absolutely spectacular for Tottenham this season, and the new contract represents both a reward for his excellent season and a real statement of belief that he could be a very good player for Spurs in the future.
Lankshear is in the same age group cohort as fellow strikers Dane Scarlett and Alejo Veliz. All three of them have potential to be solid players, but Lankshear just might have the best upside out of any of them. That doesn’t mean he’s a guarantee to become a starter for Tottenham Hotspur, but landing a five year deal as an 18-year-old is a pretty strong indication that the Tottenham coaching staff thinks he just might.
I love the fact that Spurs have put a real emphasis on identifying and signing young talent for the development squad. Youth progression is never linear (looking at you, Troy Parrott) and there’s always the chance that we overhype a player only to see him become good rather than great. That’s okay too. It’s fun to dream on guys like Lankshear who show immense promise as young players. Sometimes, they even realize their potential. Will now has five more years to do that while a Tottenham player, and that’s cool.