Spurs have “exquisite” teen out on loan who’s scoring at a faster rate than Maddison
Tottenham could have a real top talent on their hands if the North London outfit nurture this 19-year-old correctly…
Tottenham’s current crop of first-team talent are more than delivering this season so far, yet to lose in the Premier League with Ange Postecoglou’s appointment as manager an inspired decision by the Spurs hierarchy after ex-
Manager Antonio Conte’s numerous critical outbursts have destroyed team spirit.
Heung-min Son and James Maddison, two important players, have helped Tottenham go into November still undefeated in the league. Son has scored eight goals in Spurs’ first ten games, almost matching his total for the 2022–23 season. The South Korean team scored ten goals in the Premier League last year.
However, the 31-year-old great player for Tottenham will only be able to play at his best for a few more seasons before his football career starts to gradually wind down.
Fortunately for Postecoglou, Spurs have a number of interesting young players developing in the north London setup; some are even performing well right now outside of the club.
Alfie Devine, who is on loan at Port Vale in League One, is standing out in particular. It’s astonishing that the 19-year-old is outscoring Maddison in the lower echelons of the EFL, given that the former Leicester City player is presently a standout for this new-look Spurs squad.
Maddison’s numbers this season
The former Foxes midfielder, who started his Tottenham career with two assists against Brentford on the first day of the season, has been a key component of the team’s early season success.
In total, the five-time senior England international has assisted five goals and been directly involved in eight of Tottenham’s 22 top-flight goals so far. He has scored himself three times and assisted on another five goals.
Maddison will hope he can keep up this red-hot personal form over the course of the full campaign, as will Devine at Port Vale who has taken to senior football at Vale Park like a duck to water after coming through the youth set-up in north London.
Devine’s numbers this season
Netting the same amount of goals as Maddison for the Valiants – in slightly less time than his counterpart – Devine has become a firm fan’s favourite for the Stoke-on-Trent-based club despite only just joining in August.
| Maddison vs Devine (2023/34) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Goals | Assists | |
| James Maddison | 11 (852 mins) | 3 | 5 |
| Alfie Devine | 15 (820 mins) | 3 | 3 |
| Stats via Transfermarkt. | |||
Scout António Mango called Devine a “exquisite” potential star, and Vale supporters are adoring him for the immediate impact he’s having for the team.
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder recently gave Vale a 1-0 lead against Cheltenham with an incredible goal after being found in the box by Valiants defender Nathan Smith.
Unfortunately, despite this incredible strike, Vale was unable to win the match as the Robins mounted a comeback and lost 2-1.
Spurs’ top teenage talent would net again in his last outing for his new employers, this time scoring the decisive goal to send Port Vale to their first-ever Carabao Cup quarter-final with a slender 1-0 victory over Mansfield Town – hitting a fierce effort into the back of net in foggy conditions.
Overall, he put up a very strong performance against Mansfield, winning all seven of his attempted ground duels and making all five of his dribbles, according to Sofascore, in this very fought match.
Possessing that golden goalscoring touch at the moment, whilst also demonstrating his commitment to his new team by running himself into the ground, Devine has a very bright future at Tottenham and could be given opportunities in the first-team mix when this current loan switch runs out.
