DONE DEAL: Spurs youngster Etete heading to Cheltenham on loan

Kion Etete’s loan to Cheltenham Town for the remainder of the 2021-22 season was expected. Now it’s official. Two weeks after the club recalled him from his season-long loan at League Two Northampton Town, the club formally announced that Etete is heading back out, but this time up a division.

There’s been a lot of talk about Tottenham’s youth development lately, especially after Spurs now look like they’re willing to sell Dilan Markanday to Blackburn Rovers for a bag of chips and a sell-on clause, but this is one situation they’ve gotten right. Etete has been playing well for a Northampton club that is pushing for promotion in League Two. Now he’ll get a chance to see what he can do for a mid-table League One side.

At 20, Etete probably doesn’t have a long-term future at Spurs unless he really breaks through here in the next short while, so this loan seems to be the club trying to find his level with an eye towards flipping him, possibly this summer or in another year. So if he shows he can hang at the L1 level, that increases his value enough that maybe a Championship club might be willing to drop a few million on him when he’s available.

This is what Spurs should be doing with most of its talented young reserves. It’s frustrating that they seem to be whiffing on a couple of the larger talents in the academy setup, but it does seem like with Kion they’re getting it correct.