The Daily Mail reporter Josh Hughes is not convinced that Dane Scarlett will be a key first-team player at Tottenham Hotspur next season.
A couple of years ago, many at Hotspur Way would have felt that Scarlett was perhaps the closest among the academy youngsters to establishing himself in the senior squad.
However, since then, the likes of Alfie Devine, Jamie Donley, Alfie Dorrington, Will Lankshear and others have come on leaps and bounds while Scarlett has stagnated.
The youngster’s last two loan spells at Portsmouth and Ipswich did not go according to plan and he was barely used by Ange Postecoglou during the second half of the 2023-24 season.
With Spurs back in the Europa League and needing homegrown talent, the 20-year-old might be hoping that he has a bigger part to play next season.
Dane Scarlett doesn’t seem close to a Spurs breakthrough
However, Hughes feels that we would have seen more of Scarlett over the last few months if the striker was even close to being ready to make the step up.
The journalist told The Spurs Chat Podcast about the Tottenham academy graduate: “Dane Scarlett again, it seems like he is still liked, but I would’ve expected if he was that good he’d be in direct competition with Richarlison.
“Parrott could command a smallish fee, there is that. Dane Scarlett didn’t have a good loan at Portsmouth and he didn’t get any game time at Ipswich. He hasn’t broken through, it feels like he’s been 18 forever. It feels like a lifetime, but they’re still young.”
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Players tend to mature at different ages, which is why it would be foolish to write off Scarlett just yet. However, if he does go out on loan next season, it will be important for the striker to impress and catch the eye of Postecoglou.