A lot of the clamour at Spurs this season has been about the progress of Oliver Skipp in a very lucrative loan spell at Championship front-runners Norwich City.
And quite rightly too as the 20-year-old has emerged as a genuine option for Jose Mourinho to consider in his first-team come the summer.
Skipp is just one of two players to feature and start every single one of Norwich’s 34 league games this term, while he’s making his presence felt at the base of midfield by averaging 2.1 tackles per game, via WhoScored.
Canaries boss Daniel Farke has constantly raved about the Spurs gem, most recently dubbing him the “perfect lad” whilst there have been calls for Mourinho to get him involved, as per Dean Ashton at talkSPORT.
However, he’s not the only young midfielder impressing in a loan spell and as a result, he may well face competition for that spot alongside arguable Player of the Season, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Harvey White is also picking up invaluable game time at a senior level, featuring for League One promotion chasers Portsmouth, where he has finally cemented his place amongst the starting XI.
Indeed, the 19-year-old maestro has started their last three league outings and even scored on his full debut, heading home the winner at Oxford United.
And whilst Skipp is proving to be a solid defensively-minded option – very much in the same vein as Hojbjerg – White is showing a different ability in the sense of contributing in both boxes.
As per WhoScored, the teenage prodigy has averaged 1.6 tackles and 1.1 shots per game, which only emphasises his ability as a box-to-box option in the long run. His impressive work-rate helps stop the opposition, and clearly, he’s getting far enough up the pitch to have a pop at goal too.
This is something reinforced by HampshireLive’s Jonty Colman, who claimed to football.london that he’s been versatile enough to play as a narrow left-winger. He also added:
“On the face of it, he looks small compared to the average brute of League One, but he battles and is relentless. Plenty of encouraging signs so far,” said the Pompey reporter. “They [fans]have been very impressed in the last two games, as he has shown some real quality on the ball.”
He ended by saying that “Mourinho is bound to be impressed by the progress he is making.”
White has even been likened to Harry Kane by Joe Gallen since joining the League One giants in January – the Portsmouth assistant was at Millwall when a fresh-faced Kane rocked up at the Den.
“Harvey’s definitely got a big future. He’s got a lot of ability, but his mentality is also very, very good, especially for such a young player,” said Gallen before adding: “He [Kane] and Harvey are very similar people, they have very similar attitudes, a similar mentality.”
So, can he contend with Skipp?
You’d have to say yes as he offers something vastly different to Hojbjerg, whereas Skipp would create a more defensive double-pivot, White could be a long-term heir to Moussa Sissoko – or if Harry Winks’ Spanish interest comes to fruition.
Mauricio Pochettino was said to rate Spurs gem highly whilst White’s involvement in the first-team earlier this season would have undoubtedly made the decision to ship him out on loan a tricky call to make, especially when you see the youngsters involved in the Europa League.
He’d be a more perfect fit alongside the Danish powerhouse, that’s for sure.
AND in other news, £35m-rated flop could see his Spurs career saved if Levy appoints Nagelsmann…