Dane Scarlett struggled for goals on loan at Portsmouth but his former Pompey coach is backing the Tottenham Hotspur target to fulfil his potential as he fights for his chance at the Premier League giants.
On the final day of the January transfer window, Spurs farmed Alejo Veliz out on loan to Sevilla. If the £13 million wonderkid they signed last summer could not force his way into Ange Postecoglou’s first-team plans, then what chance does a 19-year-old returning to North London after a pair of underwhelming loan spells in the EFL.
In a combined 46 league games at Ipswich Town and Portsmouth, Dane Scarlett found the net only four times.
But Simon Bassey, who was Pompey’s first-team coach during his time on the South Coast, is convinced that – despite things not really go to plan for the youngster at Fratton Park – Scarlett still has a few of the skills required to make it at as a professional at a more-than decent level.
Does Dane Scarlett have a future at Tottenham?
“A good kid, but young and still had a lot to do. He’s a brilliant presser, his great attribute is pressing against the ball, so I wanted to see whether he could do that role off the left, coming in on his right foot and shooting,” Bassey tells The News, an interest shared by head coach John Mousinho while likening Scarlett to a young Marcus Rashford.
“He had a brilliant shot off his right foot.”
Scarlett, who made his first Tottenham start nearly three years ago at the age of just 17 and was briefly the club’s youngest-ever debutant, has struggled to kick on following his explosion onto the first-team stage under Jose Mourinho.
“It doesn’t always happen in straight lines for these kids. Sometimes, failure is good for them. These top academies are full of people telling you how well you are doing, and they protect them from the realities of football,” Bassey adds.
“The realities are sometimes you fail. So what do you do about that? How do you come back from that? It can shape your career. It’s what you do when that failure comes which determines how you go in the future.
“I am sure Dane is going to be a good player. I wish him well. Some of them find their level and only time tells when that is.”
Back in Postecoglou’s plans
Scarlett has been on the bench for Tottenham’s last two Premier League matches, and featured in the FA Cup clashes over Burnley and Manchester City.
He does not have to look far to realise that a poor loan spell does not equal a bad player, meanwhile, one Harry Kane doing the EFL rounds before finally establishing himself in the senior Spurs set-up.
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