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Shayon Harrison is very good at football. Tottenham Hotspur's 18-year old striker has done what only two other Spurs players – Harry Kane and Erik Lamela – have done all season: score a hat trick in a match. Harrison scored all three of Tottenham U21's goals in their 3-1 win over Sunderland U21 yesterday, and Spurs' social media team were quick to get highlights of this feat out to the masses.
1, 2, 3! @ShayonHarrison rose to the occasion for the U21s at WHL last night, here's his hat-trick... #COYShttps://t.co/qvx92KMUMv
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 12, 2016
So, kindly look past the terrible defending by Sunderland in the above highlight video. It's the U21s, and LOL-worthy defending is pretty much the norm. It's not uncommon for clubs to play players way out of position because they don't have U21s that naturally fit into all 11 roles. And that's fine: the U21s are about development, not (necessarily) about excellent football. But those are three nicely placed goals by Harrison, especially the third one, which is an absolute cracker from distance.
This past summer we rated Shayon Harrison as an Honorable Mention on our Tottenham Hotspur Prospect Rankings. Why? Because we're idiots, clearly. Over the course of the season, Shayon has quickly become one of the top prospects in the U21s. Apparently Harrison has made some major strides and is now training with the first team; he also made the Europa League traveling squad that went to Qarabag back in November. His star is on the rise.
Thankfully, Harrison recently signed a new contract with Spurs that will keep him a Tottenham player until 2018. Does this guarantee that he'll be a regular member of the first team? Of course not. It's possible, however, that he'll get his chance for a first team roster spot this summer, or a quality Premier League loan. If he keeps banging in goals like this, then that's looking more and more likely. Besides, how nifty would it be if one of homegrown striker phenom Harry Kane's backups turns out to be homegrown striker Shayon Harrison?