Sign up to FREE email alerts from Football London - Spurs Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

With the Premier League season done, talk naturally turns to transfers and all the positions where Tottenham Hotspur need strengthening.

However, Mauricio Pochettino - a man who gets more joy from developing young players then signing established stars - is well aware that there is a bumper crop of talents at the club on the cusp of making their Premier League debuts.

Harry Winks, Josh Onomah, Alex Pritchard and even Filip Lesniak have all been given their first league minutes by the Argentine in recent seasons but - Winks aside - the quintet waiting in the wings for their chance are arguably the most talented youngsters to have emerged from the club's academy in years.

Here are the five young Spurs players that we think could save Pochettino millions on the likes of Ross Barkley, Kevin Gameiro and Riyad Mahrez this summer if they are given the chance.

Marcus Edwards

There's only one place to start due to the fan clamour to get Marcus Edwards his Premier League debut. So impressive was that little cameo against Gillingham in the EFL Cup that the mainstream Spurs fans got to see what the hardy bunch who follow Spurs' youth sides around the country had known all along.

The 18-year-old has bundles of quality and he had no hope of remaining out of the spotlight when Pochettino ushered the words that made his press officer put his head in his hands: "His qualities … it’s only looks – his body and the way that he plays – remember a little bit from the beginning of Messi."

He also stated that had Edwards been born in Argentina or Brazil the national attention on him would be huge.

Pochettino was not comparing Edwards to his fellow Argentine - probably the greatest footballer on the planet right now - but he was likening enough of his traits to him to do the job. The teenager had already been nicknamed 'Mini Messi' around Tottenham's training ground long before his manager's press conference.

Since then there have attempts within the club to dampen the expectations around Edwards. An ankle injury and the need to have his tonsils out slowed down the teenager's progress anyway, but there has also been a clear plan to stop all the buzz going to his head.

The teenager has been spending half of his time training with the first team and the other with the development squad. Those ten minutes or so against the Gills ended up being his only first team minutes last season.

Even when there was an injury crisis towards the end of the season he was not called up and then rather than head to Hong Kong with the squad for the post-season friendly against Kitchee, he played with the U19s in a tournament in Germany.

Edwards is better than many on the pitch when he plays in the U23 Premier League 2 matches, but he shows off his abilities in fits and bursts. If he can match his undoubted talent with the full application then 2017/18 could end up being his breakthrough season.

Pochettino will be watching him very closely as he plays for England at the U19 European Championships next month.

Cameron Carter-Vickers

Another who has been deemed mentally strong enough to handle the highest of Pochettino praise as the manager labelled him this season as having "the potential to become the best defender in England".

Academy head John McDermott is also a fan of the 19-year-old USA youth international.

"We've got Cameron, who I think could be a potential talent," he said. "He's still got a lot to do, and hasn't achieved anything yet, but Cameron has got a lot of the raw ingredients that we're talking about."

"He trains regularly with Mauricio. I'd rather he's up there trying to kick Harry Kane or trying to defend Harry every day. That's far more of a developmental challenge than playing in the U23s."

The teenager spent most of the early months of the season keeping Kevin Wimmer off the Spurs bench in Premier League matches, but he never ended up stepping out on to the pitch in the league.

Carter-Vickers has been given a handful of starts in EFL Cup and FA Cup matches though and has shown plenty of the strength and anticipation ability that has impressed those behind the scenes at the club.

In the FA Cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers, the teen came up against the beast that is Ade Akinfenwa and managed to come out the other side, with Pochettino telling football.london after the game that it had been a "massive step" for the young defender's development.

With Wimmer likely to move on this summer in search of more game time ahead of next year's World Cup, the Spurs boss could decide to promote Carter-Vickers to be the first choice back-up to Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Eric Dier.

Kyle Walker-Peters

Another who is highly regarded within Spurs and at 20 he's one of the older players to still be without his debut. Much of that has been due to the competition in front of him for the right-back slot.

However, with plenty of speculation about the future of his namesake Kyle Walker, there could end up being a chance for Walker-Peters to step up as the back-up to Kieran Trippier next season and save the club some money in the Premier League.

Walker-Peters has been training full-time with Pochettino's first team in recent months and has not been made available for the U23's Premier League 2 matches.

The Spurs boss is keeping a very close eye on him and revealed to football.london last month that the defender was definitely going to get minutes for the first team next season.

Walker-Peters boasts the thing Pochettino values the most in his players - versatility. He can play as a right-back, left-back, a wing-back on either side and has the speed and dribbling ability to play higher up the pitch as well.

His performances for England at the currently ongoing U20 World Cup have seen him utilised as essentially a winger, as he's been such an advanced full-back.

The young defender is one of the reasons why there may not be too much wailing at Tottenham should his namesake be allowed to move on in the next couple of months.

Kazaiah Sterling

Another young player who was well known to the regulars who watch the club's U18s each season before the 18-year-old striker netted during his unofficial first team debut against Kitchee in Hong Kong.

Pochettino has been watching Sterling closely in recent years. The youngster netted in a FA Youth Cup semi-final against Chelsea two years ago in front of him - having arrived at White Hart Lane after a full day at school.

Fast forward a couple of years and after an injury that kept him out for the opening months, Sterling got back to work, scoring goals for the U18s and U23s and helping fire Spurs back into the FA Youth Cup semi-finals, where he scored once again against Chelsea.

Sterling has proved to be a big game player with a great mentality. The goal against Kitchee and a superb header moments before from a Dele Alli cross showed exactly why the teenager has the striker's instinct and strength that may help him crash the Spurs first team party next season.

Pochettino has already said that he wants Sterling to train with the first team during the next campaign in order to learn first-hand from Harry Kane.

If he's taken along - as expected - on the pre-season tour of the USA this summer then, like Harry Winks in Australia last year, he could just do himself the world of good if he continues to impress against some top sides.

His manager is currently weighing up whether the club need a new striker to provide back-up to Kane and competition or as a replacement for Vincent Janssen. Sterling has a chance to tell him to instruct Daniel Levy to put the chequebook away. Marcus Rashford got his chance suddenly at Manchester United, perhaps Kazaiah Sterling will as well.

Samuel Shashoua

A month ago Shashoua, who turned 18 in May, might have been a bit more of a wildcard. Immensely talented, with dribbling ability, creativity and a good work ethic, he's one of the academy's brightest prospects. However, he was rarely playing for the U23s, let alone getting anywhere near the first team.

Then suddenly, when Spurs suffered an injury crisis ahead of the trip to Leicester City in the Premier League, Shashoua found himself whisked away on the team coach and then was plonked on the bench for the match alongside the much older Filip Lesniak.

It's true that more senior players from the academy were on international duty or still serving their loan deals, but Shashoua is definitely being earmarked for a path towards the first team and has been in great form this season. He scored 17 goals across the U18, U19 and U23 age groups during the campaign and contributed assists aplenty.

Videos of Shashoua's fast feet and skills have been seen by thousands of football fans on YouTube. The diminutive dribbler can beat challenges at will, but it's not just about the tricks and fancy flicks. He reads the game well and his array of passing is excellent at times, picking out his fellow attackers' runs with through balls and crosses.

Shashoua is not the biggest and he will no doubt have to bulk up as the players he faces get older and bigger, but he has proved in the UEFA Youth League this season that he can score against the continent's best young talents.

However, he has faltered on the big stage this season, in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup semi-final against Chelsea. He was replaced at half-time in the tie at White Hart Lane and was an unused substitute as Tottenham went on to lose the second leg heavily.

His confidence has been rebuilt with good performances for England's U18s and then that experience with the first team will have done him the world of good.

He's likely to be eased into the first team picture more slowly than the others in this list, but don't bet against him making a matchday squad again at some point next season.