Tottenham boast an array of exciting academy talents. So why are they not using them?

Rarely has the phrase ‘If you’re good enough, you’re old enough’ had more resonance in the Premier League.

As Mikel Arteta looked for a winning goal while the scores were level against Bournemouth on Saturday, he turned to Max Dowman, 16, who is fast becoming Arsenal’s go-to forward off the bench. Later that day, Rio Ngumoha, who signed from Chelsea’s academy in 2024 and is considered among the world’s best 17-year-olds, scored the opening goal as Liverpool beat Fulham to remain in contention for Champions League qualification.

On Sunday, Manchester City academy graduate Nico O’Reilly, 21, scored the opening goal at Chelsea, heading in from close range to set Pep Guardiola’s side on their way to a 3-0 win. Superstar homegrown talents are making an impression around the league as coaches place more faith in academy graduates.

Well, pretty much everywhere other than at Tottenham Hotspur.

This season, only four clubs have handed fewer Premier League minutes to club-developed players than Spurs: Leeds (eight), Bournemouth (seven), Brentford (zero) and Burnley (zero), according to a report published this month by the BBC. Tottenham have handed just 26 league minutes to players developed in their academy, with four — Dane Scarlett, Jun’ai Byfield, Callum Olusesi and James Rowswell — playing this term.

That is almost 500 minutes fewer than Everton, who are the next-closest club in academy usage.

Brandon Austin, Tottenham’s third-choice goalkeeper, was the sole representative of the club’s academy in the matchday squad for the 2-1 defeat to Sunderland on Sunday. And with Guglielmo Vicario in contention to return from hernia surgery against Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, that number could go down to zero.

It would mark the second time in three matches that there has been no academy representative in the matchday squad.

Paradoxically, Spurs are built on youth this season.

Only Chelsea (131) and Brighton & Hove Albion (131) have given more games to players aged 21 and under than Spurs (99) in the Premier League this season. Archie Gray, 20, has arguably been Tottenham’s outstanding player in 2026, and Lucas Bergvall, Mathys Tel and others will be relied upon if Spurs are to extricate themselves from the bottom three.

But while a steady stream of locals have broken into Arsenal and Chelsea’s senior men’s squads to become first-team regulars, Tottenham had historically struggled to match their London rivals for academy talent, recruiting youth from elsewhere in the country and abroad — until now.

Tottenham are sitting on their most exciting crop of academy talents in more than a decade. There is particular excitement around Luca Williams-Barnett and Byfield, both of whom are considered, alongside Ngumoha, among the best 17-year-olds in the country.

Williams-Barnett, a mercurial No 10 who can play on the left wing, became the 900th player to represent Tottenham’s first team in September when, aged 16, he came on as an 87th-minute substitute in a 3-0 Carabao Cup win over Doncaster Rovers. Then-head coach Thomas Frank described his composure, technique and vision as “very good”.

Like Williams-Barnett, Byfield often had to recover quickly from UEFA Youth League games to appear on the bench for Tottenham in the Champions League on the same day this season. Byfield was handed his European debut in a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund, playing 28 minutes at right-back, despite typically playing in central defence for Spurs’ youth sides.

He then earned his first Premier League minutes in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City on February 1, but his momentum was slowed by an injury that has sidelined him for two months.

Williams-Barnett has also been out of action since appearing on the bench for the 4-1 defeat to Arsenal on February 22, having last represented the under-21s in a 4-1 win over Norwich City two days earlier. Had injuries not curtailed their progression, perhaps Frank or Igor Tudor would have turned to them to help create opportunities in the final third — but perhaps not, given Tudor’s reluctance to hand minutes to the more experienced Xavi Simons in his short period in charge.

There are also high hopes for left-winger Tynan Thompson, 17, and midfielder Olusesi, 19, who was subject to strong interest from PSV in January.

Now, with Spurs in the bottom three and two points adrift of West Ham United in 17th, Roberto De Zerbi has more pressing concerns than academy integration.

For the first time this season, Opta’s supercomputer makes Spurs the favourites to finish in the Premier League’s third relegation spot — hardly ideal circumstances for talented teenagers to make an impression on the team. Considering he only walked in the door three weeks ago, it is unlikely the head coach has found the time to get up to speed with the immense talent developing in the academy.

But there would be no such adjustment for Mikey Moore, who is on a season-long loan at Rangers. After struggling under Russell Martin in the season’s opening months, the 18-year-old was starting to find his feet at Ibrox under new boss Danny Rohl when Tottenham had the option to recall him in January.

At the time, Mohammed Kudus was out injured with a return slated after the March international break, and hopes for Dejan Kulusevski’s recovery this season were still fairly high. As it transpired, Kudus could now miss the entirety of this term. There is no timeline for Kulusevski, and Wilson Odobert, who became a regular starter from the right in Kudus’ absence, ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in February.

Not to mention Brennan Johnson, who was not replaced after his move to Crystal Palace.

Since then, Moore has thrived. He has developed into a key playmaker for Rohl and is a major reason Rangers are still in the hunt for the Scottish Premiership title, having scored six times and assisted twice in 28 league appearances.

Staying put has worked out for him, and the experience in overcoming his initial struggles to thrive in front of around 50,000 fans every other week will aid his development. But while Moore might not have played as many minutes in north London as he has in Glasgow since January, he would have helped Spurs alleviate their injury issues.

Few questioned them at the time, perhaps expecting Tottenham to recruit another wide forward, but the decision not to recall Moore has hurt their chances of survival.

Filed alongside their reluctance to strengthen the squad in the notoriously expensive and difficult January window, it is another example of how prioritising long-term planning in January has left Frank, Tudor and now De Zerbi short on quality and depth in crucial positions. But if there is any silver lining to relegation, it is that Tottenham’s ‘kids’ will surely play much more of a role next season.