Here we take a look at Romaine Mundle’s start to life at Standard Liege after rejecting a contract at Tottenham and making the move the Belgium in the summer

For a lot of Tottenham’s homegrown talents, the summer of 2023 turned out to be crucial. Harry Winks and Harvey White, two other academy graduates who joined Leicester City and Stevenage, respectively, said goodbye as Harry Kane left for the Bundesliga to join Bayern Munich in a high-profile transfer.

Following the expiration of their contracts, a number of the club’s talented youth players—including Jamie Bowden, Kallum Cesay, and Malachi Fagan-Walcott, to mention a few—would also leave the organization.Another player to depart for a new opportunity was Romaine Mundle, and many fans lamented the club’s failure to retain the skilled attacker in the wake of that decision.

The 20-year-old had a standout season for Tottenham in Premier League 2 in 2022–2023 with seven goals and five assists in 24 games. The teenager also contributed to the club’s UEFA Youth League campaign with a second goal and an assist.

Numerous fans wanted to see Mundle make the transition from the academy to the senior team given his stellar play for the under-21s. He participated in first-team training on a few occasions. Following his inclusion in the matchday squad for the FA Cup victory against Portsmouth, Antonio Conte gave him a promotion to the first-team squad in early March as a reward for his efforts. He was then named on the bench five times in the Premier League.

But he never got that desired first-team debut.Mundle was left with a difficult decision as his contract came to an end due to interest from domestic and international clubs, despite Spurs’ desire to lock down their brilliant player to a new agreement since they envisioned a long-term future for him in N17.

In the end, the London-born player decided he wanted a change and turned down an extension with Tottenham to sign a four-year contract with Belgian team Standard Liege. It was a decision that left many Tottenham fans miffed since they recognized the team had lost a very talented player. It was clear that the player saw a better path to consistent first-team opportunities at Standard than at Tottenham.

In an August media interview, Mundle explained how Liege’s supporters influenced his decision. The winger remarked, “The fans are wonderful. Simply the atmosphere at the stadium influences you to choose Standard while you are deciding between several clubs.

“I need a little time to get used to the intensity of the Belgian championship,” he continued, “but I work on it every day and I’ll be ready to take the opportunity as soon as the coach calls on me.”

Since relocating to Belgium, Mundle has had to wait patiently for his chance to play for head coach Carl Hoefkens, who also serves as the staff of former Tottenham youth coach Yaya Toure. The former Spurs player has been named to the matchday squad for each of their six league games thus far. His four outings for his new team have all been as a substitute.

After being brought in for the final 28 minutes of their opening-day 1-0 loss at Sint-Truiden, he played for 35 minutes the following week as they suffered another narrow loss of 1-0, this time at Royale Union Saint Gilloise.

Mundle did have an impact at both ends of the pitch as his team looked for a way back into the game. Registering one shot on target and successful with one of his two dribbles (via FotMob), he won three fouls, came out on top in seven of duels and made six recoveries.

Mundle has sadly had to watch the entire game from the replacements’ bench in their last two games, only receiving 18 minutes to his name nine days later as they drew 1-1 with Sporting Charleroi and then 27 minutes in their following game as they lost at home to Cercle Brugge. Standard currently sits in 14th place out of 16 teams in the league standings after six games, which doesn’t make for encouraging reading.

Mundle will be hoping that his playing time increases in the coming weeks as Hoefkens’ squad attempts to climb out of the bottom half of the table. It may not have been how he had envisioned his start to life in Belgium. Sunday afternoon’s first match is an away trip to Eupen, providing the winger with the chance to make an impact if given the go-ahead by his head coach.

Standard have a potential star on their hands if he can maintain the level he shown in Premier League 2 last season. That will all depend on Mundle receiving more playing time, which is something the winger will hopefully experience in the coming weeks.