Sports
A closer look at the Tottenham youngsters who are earning their spurs in Europe
The Neymar-esque display of Tottenham starlet Mikey Moore on Thursday night has got tongues wagging after they made it three wins from three in the Europa League with a 1-0 victory at home to AZ Alkmaar.
Moore was one of four teenagers to start for Spurs in the competition away to Ferencvaros earlier this month, which saw the quartet labelled as ‘Ange’s Angels’ even if Ange Postecoglou laughed off the tag.
Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall started again alongside Moore on Thursday and while Will Lankshear was an unused substitute, ‘Ange’s Angels’ again got the job done in Europe. Here, the PA news agency looks at them.
Mikey Moore
The youngster of the group, Moore’s potential has been known for some time in the Spurs academy and he made his debut as a 16-year-old against Manchester City in May. Plenty of clubs circled the London-born attacker but he signed his first professional contract at Tottenham on his 17th birthday in August and has backed up a strong pre-season with an impressive full debut in Hungary, which was followed by James Maddison lauding him as Neymar for his second half against AZ.
Archie Gray
Gray is arguably the veteran despite only being 18 considering he was a key figure for Leeds in the Sky Bet Championship last season before his £40million move to Spurs this summer. With plenty of footballing royalty in his family in the shape of great uncle Eddie Gray and grandad Frank Gray, the versatile youngster has quickly gained Postecoglou’s trust and played right-back, centre-back, left-back and central midfield during his first few months in north London.
Lucas Bergvall
With blonde hair, a cheeky smile and a wand of a right foot, it has not taken long for 18-year-old Bergvall to draw comparisons with a youthful David Beckham, but the Swedish midfielder could have ended up at Barcelona after they rivalled Spurs for his signature at the start of this year. In the end Bergvall was convinced to join compatriot Dejan Kulusevski at Tottenham and linked up with his new team-mates in July after he was given the farewell of a hero by old club Djurgarden.
Will Lankshear
If Bergvall has been compared to Beckham, an easy role model for Lankshear, 19, is Harry Kane after he was also released by Arsenal. Spurs snapped up the powerful forward in 2022 after a spell with Sheffield United and a prolific 2023-24 campaign for the Under-21s resulted in Premier League 2 success. It has been this summer where Lankshear has developed rapidly, which earned him a substitute appearance against Bayern Munich in August where he entered the pitch at the same time as Kane, who classily acknowledged his former team-mate on the touchline.