Jose Mourinho has already made Japhet Tanganga a Premier League regular at Spurs – could Malachi Fagan-Walcott follow in his footsteps?
Malachi Fagan-Walcott appears to have a bright future under Jose Mourinho with the teenage defender training regularly with Tottenham Hotspur’s first-team stars in recent times, according to Football London.
It’s fair to say a former Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid boss doesn’t exactly have a brilliant track record when it comes to promoting youth. But for every Troy Parrott, there is a Japhet Tanganga.
And 18-year-old Fagan-Walcott could be on the verge of following the latter into the first-team picture sooner rather than later.
The England U17 international has made just one senior appearance so far, coming off the bench in the 3-0 Champions League thrashing at RB Leipzig before the global health crisis saw the season shudder to a halt.
But when football resumes and the clouds pass, Fagan-Walcott will be hoping to mark a breakthrough campaign with a Premier League bow too. As Football London points out, the 6ft 2ins stopper has been a fixture in Tottenham’s first-team training of late, testing himself up against established stars a la Harry Kane, Heung Min-Son and Lucas Moura.
The 18-year-old has already made the step up to U23 football with ease, featuring in eight Premier League 2 games in 2019/20.
Tottenham are expected to go all-out for a new central defender in the off-season with Jan Vertonghen’s contract due to expire in July. But with Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez failing to impress on a consistent basis under Mourinho, don’t rule out a teenage defender getting his chance to shine later in 2020.
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