Spurs can replace Kudus by releasing “one of the best young talents in England”

Former president of Tottenham Hotspur, Daniel Levy, made the daring decision to separate from head coach Ange Postcoglou after the club won the Europa League at the end of last season.

The lamentable Premier League form, which led to a 17th place, was sufficient to see the old Celtic boss lose his job, and Thomas Frank was brought to replace him.

The Danish tactician won five, pulled two of his first nine games in charge of Lilywhites, in what was a fairly impressive start of life in northern London.

Frank was not satisfied with the performance of his team in their 1-1 draw at home against Wolverhampton Wanderers the last time in the Premier League, however, because they needed a last coup de Joao Palhinha equalizer to snatch a point.

Levy supported the new head coach on the transfer market with a multitude of new signatures, including Palhinha, before leaving the club after the summer transfer window.

One of the summer signatures that has divided opinions between the base of fans so far this season is the former West Ham United striker Mohammed Kudus.

Why need to see more than Mohammed Kudus

Champions of the Europa League have plunged to sign Ghana international from their Premier League competitors for costs of 55 million pounds sterling in summer, in the hope of improving their attack.

There have been quality lightnings from the left foot star at the start of his spurs career, with three assists in six Premier League matches to date.

Until now, his best time in a Spurs shirt has been his help for Richarlison’s goal against Burnley on the day of opening the season, with a quick direction to create a space for a cross for the Brazilian striker.

His three assists, however, came of a “great chance” created and an XA of 1.09. This suggests that he was slightly lucky to have been awarded as much aid as him.

The help of Kudus against Brighton is perhaps an example of this fortune, while the winger seemed to go for a goal with a shot that fell to the feet of Richarlison, who brought together the ball at close range.

As you can see in the table above, the signature of 55 million pounds sterling from West Ham was incredibly useless in the last two games for the Spurs against Brighton and Wolves, losing the ball 49 times in 180 minutes.

To create only three chances for the team while losing the ball 49 times suggests that Kudus does not provide enough quality in its final product, as a dribbler or as a creator.

His lack of threat as a scorer is also a source of concern. Kudus has not yet scored 1.01 xg in the Premier League for Spurs, which occurs after scoring only five goals of 6.90 xg for West Ham during the 2024/25 campaign, by Sofascore.

Consequently, Tottenham and Frank must see more of the winger on the ball and in the last third, because its current lack of goals and its waste in possession is not ideal.

Spurs, however, have a young talent emerging in their academy which could have the potential to replace the signature of 55 million pounds in the long term.

Luca Williams-Barnett made his first team debut for the club against Doncaster in the League Cup earlier this month at the age of only 16, and he could be a future star in northern London.

Why Luca Williams-Barnett could replace Mohammed Kudus

The versatile striker obtained eight minutes of senior football to his credit in the bench in this match, which shows that he is in the thoughts of Frank and did enough at the academy to justify a chance in the first team.

The form of Williams-Barnett for the club at the level of young people has been sensational and suggests that Lilywhites have a major talent on their hands they need to develop carefully.

Described by analyst Ben Mattinson as “one of the best talents in England at the level of young people”, the talent of 16 years started the 2025/26 campaign with a return of six goals and four assists in all competitions, including a hat-trick for the U21 against Leicester City earlier this month.

Williams-Barnett plays mainly in the middle like a number ten, by transfer, but he was also deployed widely on the left and on the right during his youth career in northern London.

The feeling of adolescents was described as a “pure talent” with “silky dribble” by the scout U23 Antonio Mango. The talent Scout Jacek Kulig, meanwhile, praised him as the figurehead of a “exciting” generation of young talents with Spurs.

It is easy to understand why talent scouts are so excited by the potential of Williams-Barnett when you look at his statistics in the table above, because he has an average of a football hour or a decisive pass at the level of young people since the start of last season.

These statistics show that he provides a regular threat both as a marker and creator of objectives for the Spurs at the U21 and U18 level, which earned him the first team in the first team against Doncaster.

The next step for Williams-Barnett in its development is to make its first league debut and show that it can translate its offensive prowess at the level of the first team.

Since Kudus has not yet been fully convinced on the right flank and that the young person has largely played at the academy level, unleashing the 16 -year -old star on the right wing could be a way to trace a path to the team for him.

There is no precipitation that it will happen this week or next month, or even this year. He is only 17 years old on Wednesday and does not have much time ahead of him, but his impressive progression at the level of young people suggests that Frank has a replacement of Kudus in preparation.