Tottenham Hotspur have been simply fantastic this campaign, with Ange Postecoglou’s approach even entertaining the neutral.
Spurs are currently fifth in the Premier League after 26 games, with the race for Champions League football firmly hotting up.
The squad has the perfect balance of youth and experience, with the average age of the squad against Crystal Palace at the weekend being 26.2.
However, there’s one young prospect in particular who has the potential to become a superstar, following in Harry Kane's foot steps.
Harry Kane’s early Spurs career
Today, everyone regards Kane as arguably the best number nine in world football, due to his insane goal-scoring ability and technical class, but what was his early Spurs career like?
In August 2011, England’s all-time leading goalscorer made his Tottenham debut, but it would be years later that he would begin to make an impact in the first-team setup. Numerous loan spells at EFL clubs such as Norwich and Leicester City handed Kane vital experience, and he’s not looked back since.
During the 2013/14 season, Kane began to make a name for himself in the Premier League, scoring three times in six starts. However, his development a year later was sublime.
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In the England captain's first full season as the first-choice centre forward, Kane netted an incredible 21 goals and provided three assists, and since then, he’s just gone from strength to strength.
Kane left Spurs in the summer of 2023 for a new challenge, but he will always be remembered as the club's all-time leading scorer with 278 goals and the best player to have ever played for the Lilywhites.
Tottenham's next Harry Kane
In August, Argentinian wonderkid Alejo Veliz joined Spurs for a fee of £13m, with the view of him becoming the long-term replacement for Kane.
The 20-year-old has been handed a few opportunities by Postecoglou since joining, often coming off the bench with minutes to go. This has seen Veliz tally up eight Premier League appearances, and he already has a goal to his name, scoring against Brighton & Hove Albion in the 4-2 defeat.
However, just like Kane during his early days, a loan move was deemed the best choice for his development, as he joined Sevilla in January until the end of the campaign.
His time in Spain hasn’t quite gone to plan, with the Argentine playing just 36 minutes in total so far, but the striker has already proven to be a pure finisher in Argentina, as shown by the table below, which highlights his statistics from the 22/23 Argentinian top-flight.
Games
23
xG
8.38
Goals
11
Big chances missed
5
Shots per game
2.7
Duels won per game
7.1
It’s clear that Veliz is a clinical finisher, with his actual goals being higher than his expected output, but Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig described the 6-foot-1 attacker as “complete” due to his “finishing, movement, link-up play, and technique.” That certainly sounds a lot like Kane, doesn't it? A player with immense link-up play and remarkable shooting technique.
In short, Veliz has all the attributes to become Spurs’ number nine for the foreseeable future, and based on his showing in his home country, he could be the Lilywhites’ biggest prospect since Kane. All he needs is an opportunity to shine.