Tottenham Hotspur Under-18s coach Stuart Lewis has singled out youngster Jamie Donley for praise.
Speaking to Spurs Play, Lewis discussed Jamie Donley’s development in recent years after the youngster picked up the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award in October.
Donley is yet to make his debut for Tottenham but has been named on the bench on a couple of occasions this season. The 18-year-old was part of the Spurs squad that fell to a 2-1 defeat at Wolves over the weekend.
He’s recently drawn comparisons with Harry Kane due to his exceptional form for the Under-21s this season.
Indeed, Donley has netted six goals and provided 11 assists so far this term and it feels like a matter of time before Ange Postecoglou hands him an opportunity to impress.
And his former academy coach, Stuart Lewis, certainly believes he has the potential to break into Tottenham’s first-team.
Lewis says Tottenham have an ‘amazing’ talent in Jamie Donley
Lewis has been speaking about Donley on Spurs Play and feels the youngster needs to produce consistently in first-team training to get an opportunity under Postecoglou soon.
“I think Jamie’s stats, goals and assists speak for themselves,” the U18s coach said. “But I also think his work rate and the manager [Postecoglou] has also spoken about the importance of how aggressive we are on the press and consistently doing that.
“I think Jamie’s performances this season have been really impressive. We know the quality he has.
“Obviously, that left foot has scored some goals over the years for myself and the academy teams. You watch through some of these goals, they’re really high-level.
“It’s important Jamie now brings that to training with the first-team and consistently doing that with the Under-21s. Hopefully, in time his opportunity comes and he’s ready.”
He added: “I’ve seen Jamie do some outstanding moments within games at Under-13, 15 and 16 levels. They are of a high quality technically.
“Now it’s about getting to the next step in his development and showing the manager and the coaching staff how good he can be and bringing that to training. But that left foot is pretty sweet and he’s scored a few goals for myself, one from the halfway line last year. That was amazing.”
Lewis was then asked if he views Donley as a player who can operate in the James Maddison role in the future.
“He’s a creative player, he can see things on the pitch that are really exciting and he’ll try things,” he responded. “He plays with bravery and he looks to hurt the opposition.
“Anywhere across that front area of the pitch. Playing off the right as well, as a No9 or No10.”
Donley is attracting interest from Charlton and Leyton Orient ahead of the January transfer window.
Both League One outfits are reportedly keen to take the youngster on loan, with Spurs set to decide his short-term future.
Of course, it would be brilliant to see Donley get an opportunity under Postecoglou over the coming weeks. But should the Aussie decide he isn’t quite ready, a loan move would probably be best for his development.
Kane certainly benefited from a few loan spells and while they were largely unsuccessful, he returned to Spurs ready to make the step-up to first-team football.