View: Tottenham Women ace Lenna Gunning-Williams set to benefit from Ipswich Town loan spell
It has been a summer of change for Tottenham Women who have now sent young star Lenna Gunning-Williams out on a season-long loan to Ipswich Town.
After finishing ninth last season, a disappointing return considering the club had achieved their record-highest finish of fifth in the WSL the season before, it was clear that plenty of change was needed at Hotspur Way if the club were to have any chance of returning to their previous levels this season.
A new head coach was appointed, Robert Vilahamn, while they were also active in the transfer market, recruiting plenty of international talent in the form of defender Luana Buhler, former PSG goalkeeper Barbora Votikova and Olga Ahtinen. Youngster Grace Clinton was also added to the squad while Shelina Zadorsky was locked into a new deal.
And now the revolving door of incomings and outgoings has continued, this time with a player making their way out of the club, albeit temporarily. This is because Tottenham have announced via Twitter (1 September) that Gunning-Williams has joined FA Women’s Premier League South side Ipswich Town on loan for the 2023/24 season.
The 18-year-old has progressed through the WSL academy set-up at Hotspur Way and made three senior appearances last season, scoring once in the process.
And although she will be playing her matches and training with Ipswich, due to terms in the agreement, Gunning-Williams will continue to train with Tottenham on certain days of the week, which demonstrates the belief the club have in her.
This belief is echoed by the words of Senior Assistant Head Coach Vicky Jepson, who told the club’s official website (1 September), “We’re really pleased to have agreed this opportunity for Lenna. We are balancing her training schedule between clubs so she can continue to get exposure to WSL training levels with us while also training and playing with Ipswich, being part of their game preparation sessions and match days.
“Ipswich have a great reputation for developing young international players and the aim is for her to get more match minutes in order to continue her development and growth as a young, promising Spurs player.”
Hopefully, Gunning-Williams can continue to progress, and a mix of WSL experience as well as first-team minutes in a lower division will turn her into the top player she has the potential to become.
In other Tottenham news, Oliver Skipp failed his opportunity to impress Ange Postecoglou during the defeat at Fulham.