DONE DEAL: Tottenham confirms Harvey White loan to Portsmouth

Well, this came slightly out of nowhere! Tottenham Hotspur announced the loan of another promising youth academy graduate today on their social media channels, and it’s a bit of a surprise. Nineteen year old defensive midfielder Harvey White will be heading to Portsmouth for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.

White has been identified as one of the most promising young Tottenham players in his cohort, and while he’s one for the future it’s looking like his future could be pretty bright. He earned his full Tottenham debut in an eight minute cameo in the Europa League against Ludogorets in November, and more recently started and went the full 90 in a composed performance against Marine in the FA Cup.

Portsmouth are years away from their glory years in the Premier League, but they’re on the rise right now under Kenny Jackett. They’re currently fourth in League One, and the bookies have them as favorites to promote to the Championship this season. I don’t watch a ton of League One football and data is maddeningly scarce on football-lineups.com for Pompey, but it appears as though White would be competing for defensive midfield minutes with Andy Cannon and Tom Naylor, both of whom can also play in central defense. I have no idea whether he could slot in immediately, but my sense is that he’d probably at least start as a rotation option/impact substitute, as it’d be difficult to force your way into a team already competing for promotion.

Either way, this looks like a pretty fantastic first loan for White. He’s probably not in Mourinho’s first team plans but a good showing this spring could maybe turn into a Championship loan next season.