Only the Loanees: A check-in with Spurs players out on loan

It’s quality, not quantity when talking about Tottenham Hotspur and their youth academy as of late. Spurs aren’t like Chelsea and sign everyone under the Sun and send out 6,000 players on loan (enjoy your transfer ban, btw) hoping that one of them just breaks out enough to either sell for a profit or let him rot on the bench. Tottenham tend to keep their players at home and play them in youth matches so they can monitor their progress directly, but there are clubs out there that need some youth and/or depth out there and Spurs are willing to send them abroad if needed. Let’s check in with all the players out on loan, youth or not.

Josh Onomah - Sheffield Wednesday

12 appearances, 3 assists, 739 minutes played

Photo by George Wood/Getty Images

For the second season in a row, Onomah is on loan. He spent last year at Aston Villa and had a fairly fruitful spell there if you talk with Villa supporters, though there were issues at one point because Steve Bruce was in charge and wouldn’t play him at times. Josh is now at Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship....under the management of Steve Bruce again. He was appointed on February 1 after the club sacked Jos Luhukay. Unfortunately for Onomah, he’s been hurt since right after the January window.

There’s no timetable for his return that we’ve seen, and it remains to be seen if Steve Bruce will want to utilize him upon his return. He is under contract until 2021 so the club will probably make a decision on him this summer to see if they will try to give him one more run-out with the senior squad or if they look to cash in on the 21-year-old.

Cameron Carter-Vickers - Swansea City

18 appearances, 1204 minutes played

Photo by George Wood/Getty Images

Cameron Carter-Vickers is on his third loan in two seasons, starting with Sheffield United before moving to Ipswich Town in 2018. He has been with Swansea since the end of August and the reports have been a bit mixed with the American center back. In the first 14 matches that CCV joined up with Swansea, he only made four appearances, two of which were starts. Since that spell, however, he has made 14 appearances and has gone the full 90 minutes in the last six. It seems that the defender needed time to settle in with the Welsh club and may have turned a corner in late February against Sheffeld United. While the Swans were ultimately defeated by the Blades, CCV put in a fantastic performance and hasn’t looked back. He has earned praise from Graham Potter for his perseverance, but the question still remains as to whether or not he’s going to be a Premier League-level defender. CCV will return to the club in the summer (Swansea do not have a purchase option) and, like Onomah, is under contract through 2021.

Anthony Georgiou - Atletico Levante UD

3 appearances, 1 goal, 163 minutes

Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images

The Cypriot winger was loaned out to Spanish third-tier side Levante at the end of the January window for the same reasons as Sterling was sent to Sunderland. Georgiou has made a few appearances since he joined, bagging a goal against Hercules CF back on February 24. The 22-year-old is probably not going to find himself in the senior squad when his loan is done if he’s in the third division in Spain at this point, but stranger things have happened and we’ll at least see him in the pre-season. He’s under contract until 2020 so Spurs will have to make a decision on him after he returns to the club.

Shayon Harrison - Melbourne City FC

4 appearances, 304 minutes

Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images

The 21-year-old attacker was loaned out to the magical place called the A-League in January. If you’ve never watched Australian football, you should try to. It’s a wild affair almost always and Harrison is going to get a trial by fire in the land down under. To give you an idea, watch this video from the beginning of February between Adelaide United and Brisbane Roar. Goals aplenty, red cards, and a three goal comeback.

As for Harrison, he’s already made four appearances for Melbourne City, all of which came in starting roles. Harrison seems to be a player that Pochettino loves getting playing time for in the preseason and getting him first team football was a priority for him. Harrison will be one to watch the rest of this season to see if he can make a breakthrough.

Connor Ogilvie - Gillingham FC

27 appearances, 2 assists, 2206 minutes

Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images

If you’ve forgotten about Connor Ogilvie, nobody would blame you. He’s been a perennial loanee since 2015, spending two seasons with Stevenage and currently on his second season with Gillingham. He’s getting more than enough playing time for the League One side, but more than likely this is going to be his level. He is out of contract in the summer and Gillingham seem to like him enough that they’ll probably offer him a contract once the season is over. He’s been with Tottenham since 2012 when he signed as a teenager but never really progressed enough to get a serious look at the first team. This happens more often than not, but Ogilvie will continue his career in the lower divisions of English football.

Kaziah Sterling - Sunderland AFC

1 appearance, 31 minutes

Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Obviously there isn’t much to report here. Sunderland needed some cover in their attacking band and Sterling wanted to get more of a taste in training with a first team. He’s only been at Sunderland since February 2 and he will be there until the end of the season. Prior to that, Sterling had been killing it for Tottenham’s U23 side, making 38 appearances and bagging 16 goals with four assists.

Sam Shashoua - Atletico Baleares

24 appearances, 4 goals, 2 assists, 1752 minutes

Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images

Sam Shashoua has been with Tottenham since 2015, playing for both the U18s and U23s during his time. He was loaned out to Atletico Baleares at the beginning of the season and is doing quite well in the Segunda Division B, third group. The left winger has only missed two matches since joining Baleares and is the obvious first choice there. Shashoua is still just 19 years old and, while there’s still time for a breakthrough in his career, chances are good that he isn’t going to be in the first team anytime soon. He’s under contract until next summer so we’ll more than likely learn his fate with Tottenham then.

Georges-Kevin N’Koudou - AS Monaco

3 appearances, 21 minutes

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

I think it’s safe to say that N’Koudou’s Spurs career is over. Monaco are bad, and he can’t even get regular playing time there. He’s made three sub appearances since joining the Ligue 1 side, who look like they’ll survive the drop after all. N’Koudou did give us that assist against Fulham at least! He’s under contract until 2021 but you can probably bet the house that Spurs will look to cut their losses this summer on the former Marseille product.

Marcus Edwards - SBV Excelsior

17 appearances, 2 goals, 2 assists, 1283 minutes

Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

Marcus Edwards may have turned the corner in his young career. There were plenty of articles suggesting that his attitude and ego needed a reality check and Spurs opted to ship him off to Excelsior to see how he handled top division football. The 20-year-old attacking midfielder has handled things well, starting 14 matches for the Eredivisie side. While the final numbers aren’t gaudy, what has been impressive for the academy product is the change in attitude and work ethic. Also, there’s this:

Dustin spent some time not long ago breaking down what Excelsior’s coaching staff has been saying about him, which is very promising for the future. Edwards has been a player everyone had been excited about since he started in Spurs’ youth academy, and to see him getting quality minutes and essentially being the engine for a top flight club could mean great things. Edwards has one more year remaining on his contract but one can bet there will be a serious discussion about his future, maybe even a new contract if the reports are as good as they sound.