Aged only 18, Laste Dombaxe has muscled his way into a well-deserved place amongst Spurs' top prospects, having impressed consistently this year with stellar performances both domestically in the U21 Premier League and at a European level in the NextGen series and become a key fixture in John McDermott's side
An imposing athlete and a strong tackler, Dombaxe was initially utilised as a holding midfielder during his early youth career for Tottenham. His game is not entirely based on physicality, however; his composed distribution skills have meant that even as Giancarlo Galifuoco and the repurposed centre-back Milos Veljkovic have emerged to claim the anchoring role from Dombaxe, his coaches have continued to include him in the midfield triangle whenever the side plays 4-3-3. This is no small achievement when you consider that he's been battling for playtime in those more advanced midfield roles with the likes of Nabil Bentaleb and site favourite Tommy Carroll in that spot this past season.
To flesh out more precisely what Dombaxe does in this spot, I would draw a comparison with Mousa Dembele- both have a game based around creating spaces for others with powerful driving runs, permitting the team to play more creatively and openly, and both are good at releasing the ball in advanced positions to create chances for the finishers on their team. Much like Moose, he doesn't bring too many goals to the side, adding traits more like strength and presence than finesse in the final third- although he has racked up a couple of absolute peaches to be proud of over the years.
Dombaxe's maturity has also been manifested in his repeated claiming of the captain's armband over the past couple of years, leading out the U17s in the Milk Cup as well as stewarding both the U18s and U21s. His early earmarking as a leadership figure should portend future good things to come for a player who has achieved so much so early in his time with the club.
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