The last few years have seen seismic changes take place at Tottenham Hotspur.
The club have churned through managers who employ dramatically different tactics, signed a plethora of players with varying levels of success, and perhaps most notably, sold Harry Kane.
The former captain was the club’s all-time top goalscorer and, at the very least, the second-best striker in the Premier League, but after over a decade of service, he wanted to move on to pastures new.
Unsurprisingly, Ange Postecoglou and Co haven’t been able to replace the iconic goalscorer yet, but there is a player out on loan who could potentially be their next Kane.
How Spurs' players are doing on loan
So, while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is out on loan this season, the deal that took him to Marseille in July included an obligation to buy at £17m, so for all intents and purposes, he is out of the picture.
Of those Spurs players in and around the first team who are still out on loan and set to return this summer, the player who’s had the most success has been Manor Solomon, who joined Leeds United in August.
Since moving to Elland Road, the 25-year-old winger has scored seven goals and provided eight assists in just 28 games, which comes out to a stellar average of a goal involvement every 1.86 games.
Bryan Gil, while not quite as prolific, is still having a decent campaign of his own away from N17, racking up a haul of four goals and three assists in 29 appearances for Girona, while Alejo Veliz and Alfie Devine have both scored four goals this season, for Espanyol and KVC Westerlo respectively.
Lastly, Ashley Phillips has become an integral player for Stoke City, starting 70% of their league games and making 25 appearances overall.
Solomon
Leeds
22
7
8
Gil
Girona
29
4
3
Veliz
Espanyol
22
4
0
Devine
Westerlo
21
4
0
Yang
QPR
4
0
1
Phillips
Stoke
25
1
0
At the same time, it’s too early to make a judgement on Min-hyeok Yang’s time with Queens Park Rangers, as he’s only made four appearances thus far.
In all, the Lilywhites’ loanees are looking quite impressive this season, although there is one more player who might be the most exciting of the lot, a player who’s mirroring a part of Kane’s early career.
Loan Watch
The Spurs loanee who's emulating Kane
Before he got the chance to show his stuff on a regular basis for the first team, Kane went out on several loan moves to varying levels of success.
He played for the likes of Leicester City, Norwich City, Millwall and Leyton Orient, where he did reasonably well, scoring five goals in 902 minutes, and it’s the League One side who currently have the Spurs player who could emulate the great number nine: Jamie Donley.
Now, we appreciate the fact that a comparison such as this is quite extreme, but like the England captain, the young Englishman is starting to show his quality with the O’s.
For example, while he’s primarily played as an attacking midfielder this season, he has played as a central and second striker in the past, and more importantly than that, he has shown himself to be a real threat this year.
In 34 games for the East London outfit, totalling just 2305 minutes, the “perfect” prospect, as dubbed by Alasdair Gold, has scored six goals and provided six assists as well as forcing Stefan Ortega into an own goal in the FA Cup thanks to a brilliant shot from the halfway line.
Appearances
34
Minutes
2305′
Goals
6
Assists
6
Goal Involvements per Match
0.35
Minutes per Goal Involvement
192′
That means the 20-year-old is currently averaging a goal involvement every 2.83 games, or every 192 minutes, which is seriously impressive for a youngster playing in the middle of the park.
Ultimately, there is an awful long way to go if Donley is to get anywhere near the level Kane did during his time with the North Londoners.
Still, if the Hotspur Way talent continues to progress the way he has this season, then there is no telling how good he may be in four or five years.
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