Why Tottenham are so excited about Luca Williams-Barnett and their next bunch of academy wonderkids

While Tottenham Hotspur's first team has spluttered through the pains of change in the past year, one constant at the club appears to be the exciting talents coming through the academy.

Friday night brought more evidence of that as eventually blasted their way past Charlton in the U17 Premier League Cup final with a 5-2 win oozing with style at Stevenage's Lamex Stadium. On the pitch the star of the show was the thrilling 16-year-old Luca Williams-Barnett, hat-trick hero and current toast of the academy, while off the turf U18s boss Stuart Lewis was again the architect of success.

The highly-rated Lewis has guided Spurs to three Premier League Cup trophies in as many years since his appointment as the U18s coach in 2021, with Bradley Allen and Chris Riley by his side. He's done it with different groups of players and at a club like Tottenham, where senior silverware is no longer the norm, his progress is being watched closely and many in the game are tipping the 37-year-old to break into the men's game before long.

Lewis knows Spurs inside out, having come into the academy himself as a 16-year-old player, and that helps him identify with the journey his young charges are now on. The connections between him and his groups of players over recent years have been clear and starlets like Mikey Moore, Jamie Donley, Alfie Dorrington, Damola Ajayi and Callum Olusesi have all made their first team debuts within the past year alone after working with him.

The bond between Lewis and his current squad was there for all to see at the final whistle on Friday as his medal-wearing players ran up behind him during his post-match interview and soaked him with their drinks bottles in classic cup win celebration style. While the young coach was speaking about the match-winner Williams-Barnett, you could see a group of seven or eight of his youngsters planning their attack and they did not hold back.

"I definitely didn't expect that, but you know what, from this group it doesn't surprise me, because they are challenging at times. I love them to pieces," said the drenched and laughing Lewis. "They're great characters. What an evening and I think that sums it up really."

Lewis' style of football is the Tottenham way the supporters want to see and much of the attacking on display on Friday night was breathless from the side in white, with the ball rarely far from their feet of their young talisman Williams-Barnett.

The 16-year-old, who can play in an attacking midfield role or up top, has come to the attention of general Spurs fans this season after being called up to the first team during the club's injury crisis. The England U17 international was on the bench for three Europa League games in a row during the winter months and in December was among the substitutes for the Premier League draw against Fulham at the .

In a nod towards the club's injury problems but also the age of Williams-Barnett, acknowledged that academy players like the teenager were having to go to school before first team training and that he was having to write notes to their teachers to allow them to take part in these big matches.

Williams-Barnett is worth the note and his first team debut will not be far off. It may yet come this season as the Premier League games remaining become less and less important, the perfect time to blood stars for the future and the way Harry Kane and others first got their chance.

There is something very nostalgic about watching the 16-year-old. The confidence on the ball, the drop of the shoulder, the inbuilt radar of those around him and the wandering talent in those feet stir echoes of former Spurs legends like Hoddle, Ginola and Gascoigne. Williams-Barnett has a long, long road ahead to get anywhere near that kind of level, but there's no denying that he's got the talent that, if backed by the required sacrifice and work rate, can take him to the top.

His season has been marked by spectacular moments, a couple of goals from the halfway line and long dribbling solo runs among them, and in the U18 Premier League alone he has 17 goals and six assists from just 14 matches.

On Friday night, Williams-Barnett ran the show despite being one of the younger players on the pitch. Just two-and-a-half minutes into the contest and he ran on to Harry Byrne's pass and jinked into the left-hand side of the Charlton box and fired home from a tight angle.

The visitors levelled on 19 minutes when former Tottenham academy player Manu Wales netted with a clinical low finish. Williams-Barnett was not going to be upstaged though and not long after the half-hour mark he fired home from Tynan Thompson's low cross.

It was the final goal of the hat-trick though that showcased exactly what Williams-Barnett is all about. He won back possession in the Charlton half, dribbled forward and sold the goalkeeper a ridiculous dummy with a wave of his leg and then rounded the seated stopper before tapping the ball into the empty net. It was as impudent a goal as you're likely to find.

Charlton did not remain on the floor, Wales fired home again to tighten the scoreline again, but Spurs pulled away with an excellent low, curling free-kick from Byrne.

Williams-Barnett looked to be struggling with cramp as the second half wore on, managing to fire one rocket of a shot that the keeper had to parry away before coming off in the 73rd minute.

This team is not all just about the teenager though. It contains plenty of talent in all areas of the pitch, with, among others, the versatile George Feeney, attackers Ellis Lehane and Thompson, midfielders like Byrne and strong defenders in captain Junai Byfield and Malachi Hardy, who was not involved on Friday night but has been involved with the first team this season.

The scoreline and the trophy was sealed with 10 minutes to go as the youngster who replaced Williams-Barnett, substitute Reiss Elliott-Parris, danced past an opponent and blasted a shot inside the left-hand post. To continue the nostalgic feel to the evening he pulled out a Robbie Keane cartwheel celebration.

The final whistle brought celebrations in front of the 1,242-strong crowd in Hertfordshire and flames on the pitch as the players lifted the trophy they had worked so hard to achieve.

All eyes will continue to be on Williams-Barnett and Lewis knows there's something special to come with the starlet if the hard work continues.

"He loves football. He's such an exciting, creative player," said the coach. "I spoke in the week about Tottenham players and having that creativity and that go-for-it mindset. We've loved Ginola over the years, we've loved Berbatov, those players. Luca's still got a lot of work to do. He's an under-16 player but throughout the season there's been some unbelievable moments."

The youngster spoke well himself after the game, belying the fact that he is a schoolboy who does not turn 17 until October.

"It feels brilliant. It feels incredible for the boys, what we've been doing toward the game. I think we deserved the win," said Williams-Barnett before explaining what his instructions were from Lewis at the break.

"He was saying to find the pocket in the ten, to create space for me to get the ball, so me and Tynan could demolish that wing. I was thinking if we could get that [third goal] it would just destroy their momentum."

The teenager named his third goal on the night, the cheeky rounding of the keeper, as his best goal of the season, despite his spectacular halfway line strikes.

Williams-Barnett also spoke about his experiences with Postecoglou's first team with a refreshing honesty that shows he knows how far there remains to go for him but all the while with an expectation that he will make it.

"I felt it was quite difficult to match the tempo and the intensity. How do I explain it? There's a lot of tempo," he said. "I learned to always be ready. Always be ready. No matter what comes, just be ready.

"I'm enjoying my football so much right now. I can't wait until I'm in the Premier League, scoring for Tottenham, making the fans happy. I just can't wait."

Neither can the Tottenham fans. There's a long path ahead for Williams-Barnett but he's confident he will get there and if he does then this teenager will continue to evoke memories of some of Spurs' very best.

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