Luca Williams-Barnett made his second appearance for Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup clash against Charlton after being one of the club’s most impressive players in pre-season.
The 17-year-old Spurs academy graduate has been posting astonishing numbers in youth football, and Tottenham fans got a glimpse of his talent during the club’s pre-season campaign.
The attacking midfielder has come in for a lot of praise from De Zerbi, who admitted that he was ready to play Williams-Barnett against Brentford in the second half before things went pear-shaped for his side in the first period.
The youngster came on for Mathys Tel on 79 minutes on Wednesday and produced a bright cameo, while another academy graduate, Mikey Moore, netted his second goal for the club.
Ben Davies reveals he coached Luca Williams-Barnett in Tottenham academy
Davies, who is almost twice the age of Williams-Barnett, also delivered a typically tidy performance against Charlton, and the defender was especially proud to see the 17-year-old come on.
The Welshman, who has been coaching the Tottenham youth teams over recent years, revealed that he coached the attacking midfielder when he was 16.
When asked about the importance of the academy players making an impact, Davies told Football.London: “It’s really important. It is the lifeblood of the club having young boys through the academy, the boys over there, and I did my badges with them.
“I coached Luca when he was 16, that was my age group and these boys, it is their dream to play for this club. Everyone in the academy works so hard to make that happen and this is a credit to the guys in the academy.”
Davies reveals his feelings about playing as a centre-back
While Davies has spent most of his Spurs career as a left-back, he has featured a lot more at centre-back over the last few years.
It is a position that the 33-year-old also plays for his national side, and he revealed that he is happy to play in the heart of the defence if called up.
When asked about the centre-back role, he said: “I am very comfortable. I have played there a lot of my career now, and I have always done a job wherever I have been asked to, but I like playing in there.
“I had a bad injury in January, and that is the first time I have had a competitive game on that pitch, so it was a nice monkey off my back.”