(Credit: Imago)

Jacob Raw

Fri 10 April 2026 17:10, UK

Luca Williams-Barnett has been close to making his Tottenham Hotspur breakthrough this season, and Mohammed Kudus’ injury could perfectly align the stars for the youth prospect.

Spurs were dealt a hammer blow when they learned that Kudus will likely miss the remainder of the season after suffering a setback in his rehabilitation.

The Ghanaian was making good progress and looked as though he could have had an impact under Roberto De Zerbi, but his latest setback could even rule him out of playing in the World Cup with his nation this summer.

This leaves the Spurs boss with food for thought, as a lack of quality and depth in the wide positions is evident.

The Lilywhites may just need that extra bit of attacking impotence for the Premier League’s run-in, and Williams-Barnett could be the difference.

These stats show why Luca Williams-Barnett deserves a chance

Williams-Barnett could be important if Spurs are relegated, but the internal hope is that the second scenario doesn’t happen.

With that said, it’s best to promote the youth now, and the 17-year-old already seems ready for the first team through his performances in the Premier League 2.

As seen in the table above, Williams-Barnett has netted six times in the Premier League 2 for Tottenham’s U18s this season, and has five assists to his name after 795 minutes of playing time.

Spurs are missing an attacking spark in attack, and the Englishman’s chance creation rate of 2.72 per match will surely stand out to De Zerbi.

The versatile forward completes 2.26 dribbles per game and his dribbling success rate is 44.4 per cent, while drawing 1.47 fouls each match.

Williams-Barnett has an average FotMob rating of 7.81, which is interestingly higher by 0.77 than Tottenham’s best-rated player in the Premier League, Cristian Romero, whose record stands at 7.04.

Does Roberto De Zerbi give youngsters a chance?

Some would argue that the teenager would never be given a chance due to the current state of affairs that the Lilywhites find themselves in, and that’s a fair point.

However, when looking at De Zerbi’s history of promoting youth players, it’s clear to see that Williams-Barnett has a good chance of playing a part from now until the end of the season.

While at Brighton, De Zerbi pushed the likes of Evan Ferguson, Julio Enciso, and Facundo Buonanotte through the Seagulls’ ranks.

He also developed young stars like Carlos Baleba, who was 19 when the Italian took charge, with the player now wanted by elite Premier League sides.

It would not be surprising to see the former Brighton boss do the same with Williams-Barnett, if not this season, then next, at the very least.