Matthew Chadder

Fri 16 June 2023 9:00, UK

Tottenham academy star Romaine Mundle is officially a free agent after the club confirmed his departure on the official website.

Mundle was one of 12 first-team and academy stars the club announced the departure of in a player update on 15 June.

However, the talented youngster will not be worried about being without a club for too long with reported interest in the player. Mundle’s departure comes as no surprise and has been on the cards for months, with Fabrizio Romano tweeting on 4 May that multiple clubs were after the player.

Yet, the expectation of the departure doesn’t make it any less of a blow for Spurs’ academy.

Mundle starred for the Under-21s during last season’s Premier League two campaign, scoring seven goals and providing five assists in 24 appearances. His impressive performances earned him a promotion to the first-team squad toward the back end of the 2022/23 season.

For those reasons, the player’s exit will have certainly not gone unnoticed or unfelt, with Football London reporting on 2 April that the club saw a long-term future for the forward and were attempting to negotiate a new deal.

Unfortunately, Mundle opted to leave, with the announcement now made official, and it offers a strong reminder to the club that a meaningful connection needs to once again be forged between the academy and the first-team squad.

This is so important as young stars need the incentive to continue with the club and push on with their development knowing there is an opportunity for them to succeed where they are.

Spurs will once again be left kicking themselves if Mundle turns out to be another player to leave the club and flourish elsewhere. Recent examples of this include Marcus Edwards and Noni Madueke.

Once seen highly around the club, Edwards left in the summer of 2019 and is now shining at Sporting Lisbon and scored against Tottenham when the two sides met in the Champions League group stages in September.

As for Madueke, he walked away from the club at the age of 16 and shone for PSV before moving back to the Premier League to Chelsea, where he will now play under former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettinho, which will no doubt be a bitter pill for Spurs to swallow.

Mundle may yet become another name on a list of young talent to kick on after leaving Tottenham, which is not a reputation the club will want to pick up.

In other Tottenham news, another player has decided he wants to leave the club this summer.