(Credit: Breaking Media/Manh Tung)

Jacob Raw

Sun 31 May 2026 16:40, UK

Tottenham Hotspur‘s young prospect Will Lankshear has all the makings to be a top striker through the guidance of Roberto De Zerbi.

The Lilywhites will welcome the striker back to N17 this summer after his successful loan spell in the Championship with Oxford United.

Though the U’s were relegated to League One, Lankshear was on a one-man mission to keep his side up, and can hold his head high for a brilliant individual season.

The 21-year-old rose through the ranks at Hotspur Way, scoring 32 goals in 35 games during the 2023-24 season for Spurs’ U21s, earning his professional debut the following season.

Lankshear has impressed away from Tottenham this season, and he could take his game to the next level under De Zerbi.

Evan Ferguson’s story should be motivation for Will Lankshear

Lankshear has drawn comparisons to Harry Kane for the way he has performed in the Championship, and may not look out of place if he were to be given a chance with top players around him, too.

While the thought of the Englishman pushing Richarlison or Dominic Solanke out of the team seems unrealistic on the surface, De Zerbi gave a big chance to Evan Ferguson at Brighton, and he wasn’t let down either.

De Zerbi joined Brighton in the summer of 2022, and the same season saw the emergence of Ferguson for the Seagulls, as he registered 8 goal involvements in just 10 Premier League starts, also netting another four across the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

At the time, the teenager finished the league season with 0.57 league goals per 90 minutes, and to put that into perspective, Lankshear’s record for the same statistic is 0.34 in the Championship.

Ferguson was given his chance under De Zerbi, despite only ever playing four games previously, since joining from Irish side Bohemian FC.

Like Ferguson, Lankshear is a big unit, but has an element of real modern-day centre-forward play about him.

The striker netted 11 goals in the Championship for Oxford this season, and none of which were penalties.

He also created 0.94 chances per game, proving he has the ability to drop deep and link play, similar to how De Zerbi likes his strikers to operate.

This is why Lankshear has a genuine chance under De Zerbi

There’s no reason why Lankshear can’t have a similar breakthrough to how Ferguson did at Brighton, as the evidence is there to show that De Zerbi will give youngsters a chance if they are good enough.

Oxford were 19th in the Championship for xG created with 52.3, which makes Lankshear’s tally of 11 and 12 in all competitions seem even more impressive.

The U’s only scored 45 times in the Championship, which means the Hotspur Way graduate netted approximately 24.4 per cent of his side’s goals, almost a quarter of them.

Nobody at Tottenham scored as many goals as Lankshear did in the league this season, as the forward even managed to record 0.60 more shots per 90 than Richarlison did.

Lankshear will need to be tested by Premier League football soon, and it feels like De Zerbi could keep him until next January at the very least, to see how he fairs in the top flight.