Will Lankshear told why he was RIGHT to leave Tottenham as club slammed for ‘blocking’ youth pathways
Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Tim Sherwood insists former Spurs striker Will Lankshear made the right decision to leave over the summer, as the pathways for young talent at the club are currently being ‘blocked’.
The north London club recouped £20million for Lankshear when he headed to Teesside, despite only ever making six senior appearances and scoring once – albeit that one strike did come in the Champions League at Galatasaray of all places.
Lankshear was never able to make the breakthrough at Tottenham, though, despite being dubbed the ‘next Harry Kane’ from a young age.
Life at Middlesbrough could not have got off to a better start for the 21-year-old, however, with Lankshear chalking up eight goals in 11 matches across all competitions for a Boro side currently sitting third in the Championship table.
Lankshear showcased his ability to score goals in the second tier of English football during a loan stint at Oxford United last season, scoring 11 times, following a similar career path to Kane in that regard.
Indeed, it was Sherwood that gave the club’s all-time record goalscorer his chance at a similar stage of his development to Lankshear, after Kane had enjoyed loan stints at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester.
But Sherwood claims it was the right time for Lankshear to leave, given Tottenham’s reluctance to turn to their academy over a number of years.
Lankshear’s goalscoring form is all the more frustrating for Spurs, given their own struggles in front of goal in the Premier League, with just two scored in five games to date as they sit bottom of the table.
Loan signing Omar Marmoush, who can sign on a permanent £60m deal next summer, is yet to find the net, while there is talk of the club making another big splash for a striker in January.
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Tottenham wrong not to give Lankshear a chance
And Sherwood claims Lankshear never had a chance of breaking through, once the club started spending big under Roberto De Zerbi.
He told MaxFreeBets: “Will Lankshear did well at Oxford, he’s done well over there. If you’re ever gonna get a chance at Spurs as a young player you need to go and score goals while out on loan, and he did that.
“I’m not saying he was the answer, but I think he deserves an opportunity to suggest he might be. He never got that opportunity.
“Spurs just look to go out and spend money and block up pathways of young kids. So he’s better off just going and getting a career somewhere else, and he’s doing very well.”
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Lankshear is not the only younger player at Tottenham that fans have been unhappy at the club for selling, with Luka Vuskovic’s move to Brighton over the summer also met with heavy criticism.
The Croatian centre-back has been in sensational form for the Seagulls at the start of the new season, while Tottenham summer signings Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi have not exactly been convincing early in their time in north London.
Spurs return to Premier League action on October 10 when they head to Manchester United in the Premier League.
