Where are they now? The 31 Spurs academy players to debut in the 2010s

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Tottenham saw a number of young players flourish in the 2010s, but what has become of each of their academy graduates to make a first-team debut in the 2010s?

Harry Kane is the obvious success story, with the striker evolving from perennial loanee to captain for club and country.

We’ve taken a closer look at the 31 players to appear for Spurs after coming through their academy system.

Jake Livermore

Livermore made 52 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham after making his debut in March 2010 as a substitute in a win over Stoke, but he made more appearances out on loan for six other clubs.

He eventually found a home at Hull City before moving on to West Brom, winning seven England caps along the way, and he now captains the Baggies in the Championship.

Danny Rose

Signed from Leeds United as a 17-year-old in 2007 before making a senior appearance for the West Yorkshire outfit, Rose appeared for Tottenham’s youth and reserve teams before eventually making his debut in a 2-2 draw against his former club in the FA Cup three years later.

Rose was initially considered a winger and marked his league debut in April of the same year by scoring a stunning volley against Arsenal.

The following year he began his transformation into a left-back, aided by a loan spell at Sunderland, and developed into an England regular in that position, but he has experienced ups and downs in recent seasons and has been tipped to leave north London on a number of occasions.

Who remembers this stunner from Danny Rose against Arsenal? 💥 pic.twitter.com/iqLqdObgD4 — The F2 (@TheF2) April 30, 2017

Steven Caulker

Caulker has endured a turbulent decade since making his Tottenham debut in a 4-1 defeat to Arsenal in 2010.

The defender scored on his only appearance for England, in a 4-2 defeat to Sweden, but has struggled with depression, gambling and alcohol addictions.

After a spell with Dundee in 2018, he is now with Turkish side Alanyaspor, where he was recently involved in a minibus crash that saw team-mate Josef Sural tragically lose his life.

Andros Townsend

Townsend was sent out on loan nine times by Tottenham but still managed to make 93 appearances in all competitions for the club.

The winger has since made a decent career out of cutting inside onto his left foot, like a Primark Arjen Robben, at Crystal Palace.

Cameron Lancaster

The striker was once considered ahead of Harry Kane in the pecking order at Spurs, but he made just a single 15-minute cameo before injuries curtailed his progress at White Hart Lane.

After dropping down the leagues in England he moved to America and became just the second signing of MLS expansion franchise Nashville, who are expected to join the competition in 2020.

Handily, we spoke to him.

READ: The story of the striker who was ahead of Harry Kane at Spurs but played once

Adam Smith

The right-back only appeared twice for Spurs but has established himself as a Premier League regular for Bournemouth.

Jake Nicholson

A name we have no recollection of, Nicholson made his solitary appearance for Tottenham by replacing Jake Livermore in a Europa League qualifier against Hearts before dropping down the English football pyramid. He was last known to be playing for semi-pro side Walton Casuals.

Tom Carroll

A neat and tidy midfielder, Carroll is currently struggling for regular first-team football at Swansea City in the Championship.

Massimo Luongo

You could be forgiven for not knowing Luongo came through the ranks at Tottenham after leaving his native Australia for England.

The midfielder missed his penalty in a League Cup shootout defeat to Stoke on his only Spurs appearance but has become a stalwart of the Championship for QPR and Sheffield Wednesday over the past five years.

Ryan Fredericks

After making four appearances for Tottenham, Fredericks has worked his way back up to the Premier League after impressing in the Championship with Fulham, earning a move to West Ham.

Harry Kane

Never heard of him.

Milos Veljkovic

Linked with a move back to England’s top flight in the past 18 months, Veljkovic made a couple of Premier League appearances in 2013-14 but failed to make an impression during loan moves at Middlesbrough and Charlton, only to fare better in Bundesliga with Werder Bremen.

Alex Pritchard

Struggling for fitness at Huddersfield, there’s a sense that Pritchard has failed to live up to his potential after underwhelming in the Premier League with the Terriers.

Nabil Bentaleb

The great success of Tim Sherwood’s reign – rather than Harry Kane, as Sherwood would like people to believe – Bentaleb has admitted he was too hasty in forcing a move away from Spurs after struggling for game-time under Mauricio Pochettino.

“I know I made mistakes,” he told The Independent. “But they helped me learn, as a man. And they don’t stop me from sleeping at night. And if I was 24 right now, and I had been at Tottenham, I don’t think I would make the same mistakes.”

Still just 25, the midfielder is yet to play for Schalke this season due to injury.

Shaq Coulthirst

After a number of loan moves in League One and Two, Coulthirst was eventually sold to Peterborough but now finds himself in the National League with Barnet, a move he pursued to be able to care for his mother, who was suffering with a serious illness.

The only non-league side left in the FA Cup have turned it around! Shaq Coulthirst again 🔥 Limbs. pic.twitter.com/gBcTLxYAH8 — Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) January 28, 2019

Harry Winks

Has every a footballer looked more like he should be playing for Tottenham?

Josh Onomah

A player who at one point looked destined for big things at Spurs, Onomah spent the last two seasons on loan in the Championship and dropped down to the division on a permanent basis when he was used as a makeweight in the deal that saw Ryan Sessegnon swap Fulham for Tottenham.

Shayon Harrison

“There were so many things going through my mind,” Harrison told the Daily Mail when recalling his solitary appearance for Tottenham, a League Cup defeat to Liverpool in which he squandered a late opportunity. “I felt like I’d let a lot of players down and the manager down especially because he’d given me that opportunity.”

Harrison never played for the first team again and moved to Holland’s second tier last summer by joining Vincent Janssen’s former club Almere.

Marcus Edwards

Mauricio Pochettino admitted he regrets likening Edwards to a young Lionel Messi ahead of the then-17-year-old’s first-team debut against Gillingham in September 2016.

That proved to be Edwards’ only appearance for Spurs senior side as concerns were raised over his attitude following a disappointing loan spell at Norwich City.

The England youth international spent last season on loan in the Netherlands before joining Portuguese outfit Vitoria SC in the summer, scoring his first goal for the club in a Europa League defeat at Arsenal. You can take the boy out of Tottenham etc.

Former #thfc midfielder Marcus Edwards scores against Arsenal at the Emirates. pic.twitter.com/js7y7Y6ksB — Daily Hotspur (@Daily_Hotspur) October 24, 2019

Anton Walkes

We’re not sure how a Tottenham prospect moving on loan to Atlanta United in MLS passed us by, but that sounds absolutely brilliant.

The versatile defender has since returned to England, joining Portsmouth on a permanent deal after a loan spell on the south coast.

We’d have definitely stayed in MLS, for what it’s worth.

Cameron Carter-Vickers

Having just seen his fourth loan spell in the Championship cut short after half a season at Stoke, Carter-Vickers is being tipped to make another loan switch to the second tier with Derby County.

We asked our Stoke-supporting editor Homzy for his verdict on the USA international, to which he replied: “Forgettable. Which, to be fair, in the context of Stoke’s season isn’t a bad thing for a centre-back. He had a couple of good games at right-back too, but 10 years from now he’ll be the one everyone forgets in a quiz on here.”

Kyle Walker-Peters

Walker-Peters has been around Spurs’ first team for the past three seasons, most notably becoming the youngest player for 15 years to provide three assists in a single Premier League fixture, but he has failed to cement a regular place in the club’s starting XI.

The full-back is now being linked with a move to Brighton this month.

Anthony Georgiou

He may have only made one appearance for Tottenham, but it at least came in a thumping 3-0 Champions League victory over APOEL.

Since then Georgiou has been on loan at Levante, where he turned out for the Spanish side’s B team, and has just returned to Spurs after a loan spell at Ipswich in which he failed to earn a start in League One.

Tashan Oakley-Boothe

Still at Tottenham, Oakley-Boothe’s sole Tottenham appearance came as a 92nd-minute substitute for Dele Alli in a League Cup victory over Barnsley.

Kazaiah Sterling

After spending the second half of last season on loan at Sunderland, Sterling returned to League One with a temporary move to Doncaster Rovers for 2019-20, but he has been recalled this month after making just three appearances for the South Yorkshire club.

Oliver Skipp

Skipp showed plenty of promise for Tottenham last season, making 12 appearances in all competitions, although he has struggled to kick on this term and is reportedly set for a loan move this month.

George Marsh

After being sent out on loan to Leyton Orient for the first half of the season, Orient fans are now desperate for the club to extend the midfielder’s stay after making a positive impact at Brisbane Road.

Credit to George Marsh today, he was everywhere as usual👏🏻Since he’s come back into the team we’ve looked a lot better in the middle. Really hope we can extend his loan because we’d be a lot worse off without him! — Jaden Christy (@JadenChristy17) December 26, 2019

Luke Amos

Amos was tipped to make a big impression last season after impressing on Spurs’ pre-season tour of the US and made his Premier League debut on the opening day of the season, only to suffer a serious knee injury in September.

The midfielder is spending the current campaign on loan at QPR, scoring twice in 18 Championship appearances across the first half of the campaign.

Timothy Eyoma

A World Cup winner with England’s Under-17s, Eyoma made his Spurs debut as a substitute in an FA Cup tie against Tranmere last season and remains on the books in north London.

Japhet Tanganga

The 20-year-old made his debut for Spurs earlier this season in the penalty shootout defeat to Colchester in the League Cup.

Troy Parrott

Spurs fans are getting very excited about Parrott. Even Jose Mourinho has trusted the 17-year-old in the Premier League, which feels quite significant.

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