Tim Sherwood believes Will Lankshear was right to leave Tottenham amid fears over a lack of opportunities in North London.
Tottenham ended the summer transfer window with a slightly sour taste after failing to move Richarlison on. The plan had been to bring Iliman Ndiaye in as part of a swap involving the Brazilian, but neither move materialised for Spurs.
Heading into the next windows, reports have already suggested Tottenham may look for another striker, partly because of their lack of cutting edge in front of goal. Even so, Spurs did lose a goalscorer from their system when they sold Will Lankshear to Middlesbrough on a permanent deal.
Lankshear, who came through Tottenham’s youth ranks, had a promising future ahead of him. Spurs had initially rejected approaches for him this summer before eventually allowing him to leave, possibly because the player himself pushed for the move.
He spent last season on loan at Oxford United, where he scored 11 times in the EFL Championship, but that was still not enough to convince Tottenham to give him a serious chance ahead of the new campaign. He has started life at Middlesbrough in excellent goalscoring form, with eight goals in 11 appearances across all competitions, and former Tottenham player and manager Tim Sherwood has backed the decision to move on.
Sherwood backs Lankshear
Sherwood, as quoted by TEAMtalk, said Lankshear deserved a chance to prove himself at Tottenham, but that he was right to move elsewhere when that opportunity did not arrive. Sherwood believes the club have blocked pathways for young players and left Lankshear with little choice.
Sherwood said, “Will Lankshear did well at Oxford; he’s done well over there. If you’re ever gonna get a chance at Spurs as a young player, you need to go and score goals while out on loan, and he did that.”
“I’m not saying he was the answer, but I think he deserves an opportunity to suggest he might be. He never got that opportunity. Spurs just look to go out and spend money and block up pathways of young kids. So he’s better off just going and getting a career somewhere else, and he’s doing very well.”
Sherwood, who gave Harry Kane his chance when the striker was coming through the ranks, may have hoped Tottenham would do something similar with the 21-year-old. Instead, things have gone differently, with Lankshear leaving permanently rather than going out on loan like Mikey Moore, who joined FC Koln.
That does not mean Tottenham cannot bring Lankshear back one day, although they may now have to pay a much higher price if they decide to revisit the move later.
