Tag: Keanan Bennetts

The former Spurs starlets who flew the nest

Dennis Cirkin’s decision to move to Sunderland in a permanent deal came as a real disappointment to Spurs fans who keep an eye on the next generation coming through Hostpur Way. With a staggering array of attributes – his reading of the game, technique in both defence and attack, work-rate, surging runs from deep and ability to score and assist – Cirkin had long been touted as the future Spurs left back – at Lilywhite Rose we included him in our Dream Team 2030/31.

But with Sergio Reguilón, Ben Davies and Ryan Sessegnon bloking Cirkin’s path, it was clear regular first team opportunities would be limited for the foreseeable future. The decision to move to Sunderland to play senior football rather than spend another year with Spurs’ youth teams was an understandable one.

We have a look at some of the other promising Spurs starlets who decided their future lay elsewhere and, like Cirkin, made moves in a bid to fast track to first team football. This is how they have got on:

Noni Madueke

Noni Madueke was one of the most highly rated players to come through Hotspur Way, captaining Spurs’ Under 16 side and making his debut for the Under-18s aged just 15.

However, in 2018, Madueke reportedly rejected offers from Chelsea and Manchester United (as well as declining a new contract with Spurs) and instead joined PSV Eindhoven in search of a clearer pathway to first team football.

He has been a revelation in the Netherlands, scoring 18 goals and contributing 10 assists in 47 appearances for PSV (including four goals in six games for their reserve team Jong PSV in the Dutch second tier). He has hit the ground running this season, already scoring five goals in six games across all competitions.

Now 19, the winger could be set for a return to the Premier League with the England Under-21 international linked with a host of clubs, including Spurs. A £20 million fee may be enough to bring one of the most exciting talents in Europe home.

Reo Griffiths

Reo Griffiths was lethal while at Hotspur Way, scoring 44 goals in 60 games for Spurs’ youth teams. Four of them came in one game against Arsenal.

Yet, like Madueke, Griffiths saw his future elsewhere and moved to Lyon in 2018. Unlike Madueke, he has not yet enjoyed the same success.

Playing for Lyon’s B side in France’s fourth tier, Griffiths has scored goals steadily and captained the team on a number of occasions. However, he is still to make his debut for Lyon’s first team proper.

The 21-year-old is now in the final year of his contract and has recently joined Peterborough United on trial.

Keanan Bennetts

2018 saw a summer exodus of promising talent, with Keanan Bennetts joining Griffiths and Madueke in looking abroad for a fast track to first team football.

In all Bennetts played 69 games for Spurs’ youth teams, with 14 goals and 16 assists marking him out as a winger of great potential. A £2 million move to Borussia Mochengladbach therefore came as a surprise.

However, now aged 22, his career is yet to really take off. An initial season with Gladbach’s reserves was followed by a loan spell with League One side, Ipswich Town. While Bennetts made 30 appearances for the Tractor Boys, half of them came as a substitue.

He has since return to Gladbach’s first team, coming off the bench in both of their games so far this season.

Marcus Edwards

Despite being one of the most naturally gifted players to ever come through Spurs’ Academy – with Mauricio Pochettino describing him as ‘similar to Messi’ – Marcus Edwards only ever made one competitive appearance for the Lilywhites.

Loan spells to Norwich City and Dutch side Excelsior produced mixed results and Edwards made a permanent move to Vitoria de Guimaraes in 2019.

Edwards has since rebuilt his career in Portugal, with 12 goals and 12 assists in 72 appearances for Vitória offering a decent return. A transfer to Sporting Lisbon looked to be on the cards earlier this summer (with Spurs set to earn a 50% sell on fee) but that move seems to have gone cold.

Luis Binks

While all players on this list made transfers abroad, none moved further afield than Luis Binks.

The loss of Binks was significant. It had been some time since Spurs had produced a high quality home-grown centre back and it was felt that the England youth international was only a year or two away from first team football. His reading of the game, comfort on the ball and leadership qualities shone through even from an early age, and he was viewed as Toby Alderweireld’s long-term successor.

Despite a late intervention from then-manager Jose Mourinho, the centre-back made a surprise move to the MLS last year, moving to Montreal Impact. Binks made an instant impression, making 26 appearances before moving to Montreal’s sister club, Bologna F.C.

Binks will be hoping to continue his development in a league famed for breeding the world’s best defenders.

Parrott Latest to Make Journey Along the A12

Troy Parrott had made his debut for Ipswich Town, becoming the latest player to turn out for both the Lilywhites and the Tractor Boys. Over the past few years, the likes of Anthony Georgiou and Cameron Carter-Vickers have moved to Portman Road on loan, whereas others like Grant Ward have switched permanently. Keanan Bennetts, currently on loan at Ipswich from Borussia Mönchengladbach, is another Hotspur Way graduate.

However, there is a long history of players who have made the journey along the A12 (sometimes with stops on the way) – here are 10 of them:

Darren Bent (Ipswich 2001-2005; Spurs 2007-2009)

Darren Bent made his debut for Ipswich at just 17 years old, and he went on to score 53 goals in 133 games before joining Charlton Athletic for £2.5 million in 2005. Two heavy scoring seasons followed – 37 goals in 79 games – before Bent made the move to THFC in 2007 for a then club record £16.5 million.

However, despite finishing the 2008-2009 season as the club’s top scorer, Bent’s time at the club was an unhappy one. Not only did he face competition from the likes of Defoe, Keane and Berbatov, Harry Redknapp clearly did not rate him, publicly humiliating Bent after an open-goal miss: “You will never get a better chance to win a match than that. My missus could have scored that one.” He would end his spell at Spurs having scored 25 goals in 79 games and receiving a League Cup winners medal in 2008.

Bent moved to Sunderland, maintaining his good goal scoring record, before ending his career in 2018 after a loan with Burton Albion. He made 568 career appearances and scored 217 goals. He also scored four goals in 13 England caps.

Alan Brazil (Ipswich 1976-1983; Spurs 1983-1984)

An Ipswich Town great, Alan Brazil scored 80 goals in 210 games for the Blues, and was a key member of the sides that won the FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981. Town would also finish as First Division runners up in 1980–81 and 1981–82.

Brazil then moved to Spurs in 1983, but injuries, form and competition for places meant he could not recreate his Portman Road glory years. After a single season, he moved on to Manchester United having scored just nine goals in 31 appearances. However, the injuries continued and, after a number of moves, he retired in 1989.

Jamie Clapham (Spurs 1994-1998; Ipswich 1998-2003)

A talented young left back who came through the Spurs youth system, Jamie Clapham only managed to make a single Premier League outing – and a clutch of Intertoto Cup appearances – before heading to Portman Road.

It was here that Clapham made his mark, making over 250 appearances for the club, winning the club’s player of the year award in 1999 and being part of the side’s 2001/02 UEFA Cup run (although losing in the 2nd leg, this run included a 1-0 win over an Inter Milan side which included Toldo, Zanetti and Seedorf). However, relegation followed that same season and Clapham was sold to Birmingham the year after for £1.3 million. Clapham played on until 2012 before retiring after playing in more than 500 games.

Giovani Dos Santos (Spurs 2008-2012; Ipswich 2009)

When Giovani Dos Santos joined Spurs in 2008, there was near disbelief that Spurs had managed to prise away a player who was considered one of Europe’s brightest prospects, from one of the world’s biggest clubs, for just £5 million. It didn’t work out, as just three goals (none in the Premier League) in 33 appearances would attest.

Dos Santos’ loan with Ipswich, although brief, and in the Championship, was more successful with four goals in eight appearances, including a penalty against Norwich in the Old Farm Derby. He is now playing back in his home country with América.

Jason Dozzell (Ipswich 1983-1993, 1997; Spurs 1993-1997)

Another Ipswich legend, Jason Dozzell made 340 league appearances for his home town club, after being signed on schoolboy terms by the late, great Sir Bobby Robson. He was part of the side that secured promotion from the Old Second Division in 1991-92, meaning that Ipswich would feature in the first season of the newly formed Premier League.

In 1993, he was sold to Tottenham for £1.9 million, but his spell with the club was interrupted with injuries. He made 89 appearances in his four seasons – scoring 14 goals – but returned to Portman Road on loan in 1997. He moved to Northampton Town at the end of that season and retired in 2002 after spells with Colchester, Canvey Island and Grays.

Dozzell still holds the record for being the youngest goalsocrer in England’s top division after scoring for Ipswich on his debut aged 16 year and 57 days. His son Andre, who Spurs have previously been interested in, also scored on his Ipswich debut aged 16.

Jake Livermore (Spurs 2008-2014; Ipswich 2010-2011)

Jake Livermore’s loan move to Ipswich was his fifth (he would go on to have seven in total) and in his half a season there he made a dozen appearances before moving onto Leeds.

Although he would appear in more than 50 games for Spurs, he would never manage to make the breakthrough and was sold to Hull in 2014 after another loan spell. Now with West Brom where he is captain, Livermore has over 400 senior appearances as well as seven England caps.

Jimmy Robertson (Spurs 1964-1968; Ipswich 1970-1972)

A winger who played for both clubs with distinction, Jimmy Robertson signed for Spurs in 1964 from St Mirren and went on to play 181 times for the club, scoring 31 goals. His most important strike came in the 1967 FA Cup win over Chelsea, with Robertson opening the scoring in a 2-1 win.

He joined Arsenal the year after, but left for Portman Road in 1970, and became a key member of Sir Bobby Robson’s early Ipswich sides, making nearly 100 appearances. Spells with Stoke, Seattle Sounders, Walsall and Crewe followed, with Robertson retiring in 1979 after more than 600 career appearances.

John Scales (Spurs 1996-2000; Ipswich 2000-2001)

John Scales was part of Wimbledon’s ‘Crazy Gang’ that won the FA Cup in 1988, and he joined Spurs in 1996 after a two year spell at Liverpool.

However, despite receiving a League Cup winners’ medal in 1999, he missed the final with a calf injury, epitomising his time at the club. In his four years with Tottenham, Scales made only 34 appearances, and left to join Ipswich on a free in 2000. Sadly, the injuries continued and, after just two appearances with the Blues, Scales retired.

Mauricio Taricco (Ipswich 1994-1998; Spurs 1998-2004)

Mauricio Taricco spent the majority of his career with both Ipswich and Spurs, having moved to England from Argentinos Juniors in 1994. He went on to make 137 league appearances for Ipswich, winning their player of the year award in the 1996/97 season.

The Argentine full-back joined Spurs in 1998 for £1.75 million, George Graham’s first signing at the club (he did not appear in the 1999 League Cup final win due to be cup-tied). He made 149 appearances in his six years at the club before joining West Ham on a free transfer in 2004. Taricco in 2012 and has held a number of assistant manager roles since, his last with Bordeaux under former Spurs Guy Poyet.

Andros Townsend (Spurs 2009-2016; Ipswich 2010)

Like Jake Livermore, Andros Townsend was a serial loanee, with Ipswich his fourth loan club (he would have nine in total while on Spurs’ books). He would make 16 appearances in total, but joined Ipswich in the middle of Roy Keane’s tenure as manager, a spell that wasn’t exactly an unqualified success.

Townsend would later begin to establish himself in the first team in the 2013-14 season, but Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival eventually resulted in Townsend’s departure to Newcastle, having played a total of 93 games for Spurs and scoring 11 goals. He now plays for Crystal Palace.

One more…

Sir Alf Ramsey (Spurs 1949-1955; Ipswich 1955-1963)

He may not of played for both clubs, but he is steeped in the history of both Tottenham Hotspur and Ipswich Town. Ramsey joined Spurs in 1949, playing under Arthur Rowe, becoming a focal point in the ‘push-and-run’ team that won the title in 1951. He was later made club captain and made 250 appearances before retiring in 1955.

With fellow defender Bill Nicholson joining the coaching staff at Tottenham, Ramsey took over at then Third Division Ipswich Town. He succeeded in getting Town promoted in 1956-57, and again in 1960-61. In their first season back in the top flight, Ipswich succeeded Nicholson’s double winning Tottenham side as English Champions. Nicholson would get one over his old rival in the 1962 Charity Shield final, with Spurs running out 5-1 winners.

Ramsey would be announced as the next England manager that October, but didn’t formally take over until May 1963. The rest is history.

‘Last few days in this changing room’ – is the next Harry Kane heading for Spurs exit?

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Reo Griffiths has sparked transfer rumours after posting on Instagram ‘Last few days in this changing room.’

The post, since deleted, has led to fears that Griffiths, 17, could see his future away from Hotspur Way and will leave Spurs facing the prospect of losing another promising youngster, after it was revealed by this blog that Keanan Bennetts would be plying his trade in Germany from next season.

Lilywhite Rose has been told that no new deal has been agreed between the club and Griffiths despite reports claiming it was a done deal.

At this stage it might be worth pointing out that Sky Andrew (Sol Campbell’s representative for you younger Spurs fans) is Griffiths’ agent.

Griffiths, who has already been touted as the next Harry Kane, has had an outstanding season for Spurs at youth level, scoring 28 goals across all competitions with 27 of those coming in just 20 U18 Premier League appearances. This included putting four goals past an abject Arsenal side in a 9-0 hammering.

It is thought that RB Leipzig, where the former Tottenham Head of Recruitment, Paul Mitchell is now pulling the transfer strings, are keen on bringing him to the Bundesliga.

Let’s hope Poch can convince Griffiths that his future lies with Spurs.

Keanan Bennetts to join Gladbach

Lilywhite Rose can reveal that the transfer of Keanan Bennetts to Borussia Mochengladbach has been confirmed.

The fee for Bennetts, 19, whose contract was extended in December, is understood to have been agreed at £2 million.

It is thought that Tuesday was his last day at the club.

A winger who can operate down either flank, Bennetts was the standout development squad player this year and it’s a huge disappointment to lose a player we had high hopes for.

Bennetts made 32 appearances for Spurs last season in the Premier League 2, UEFA Youth League and the EFL Trophy scoring 9 goals and providing 8 assists.

Highlights included a brace of free kicks during a PL2 game at ‘Three Point Bridge’, the second of three Spurs away wins away at Chelsea this season.

He has been capped at youth level with both Germany and England (his mother is German) and was expected to stand a decent chance of breaking into the first team squad next season.

With strong personal ties to Germany it is not entirely surprising Bennetts has chosen to make this move but we hope Daniel Levy doesn’t regret letting a promising young player go on the cheap.

Bennetts is the latest English prospect to move to Germany in recent times. Jadon Sancho, one of England’s most highly rated young players, moved away from Manchester City in favour of a move to Borussia Dortmund and West Ham’s Reece Oxford and Everton’s Ademola Lookman have also made loan moves to Gladbach and RB Leipzig respectively.

Update: this transfer was confirmed by Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and Borussia Mochengladbach on 18 May 2018.