'Another Eriksen': David Pleat says he thought player Tottenham sold for £8m would become a star
11/05/2024 11:45 AM
Tottenham have had some very promising academy products over the years who never quite reached their potential.
Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp were touted to be Spurs' long-term midfield pairing, but, instead, they're at Leicester City, while Troy Parrott was also tipped for big things before ultimately being sold.
Japhet Tanganga was also tipped to have big potential, but he's now ended up playing in the Championship for Millwall.
Speaking on The Spurs Show, David Pleat has been discussing some of these young stars who didn't quite make the grade at Spurs, and he says that he actually had high hopes for Alex Pritchard at one point, claiming that he thought he could be the next Christian Eriksen at one point.
Alex Pritchard could've been the next Christian Eriksen
Pleat spoke about how much he rated Pritchard when he was coming through.
The Spurs legend said that he though Pritchard had the potential to be another Eriksen for Tottenham, but, ultimately, he was sold to Norwich for £8m.
"There are so many others. I remember Bentaleb the midfielder who played the odd game. Smith at Bournemouth, they have all had good careers. Pritchard. I thought at one point that Pritchard would be another Eriksen, he did very well in academy games. Of course, Mason who we sold to Hull played so well with Harry Kane, they played well together."
What happened to Alex Pritchard?
Pritchard never quite made it at Tottenham, and he never quite fulfilled his potential as the so-called next Christian Eriksen.
The midfielder did end up playing Premier League football for Huddersfield Town in the late 2010s, but he wasn't able to kick on from that point.
| Alex Pritchard’s clubs post-Tottenham | Games | Goals |
| Norwich City | 43 | 8 |
| Huddersfield Town | 83 | 3 |
| Sunderland | 112 | 9 |
| Birmingham City | 9 | 0 |
| Sivasspor* | 8 | 0 |
In recent years, Pritchard has floated around the Championship and League One before eventually making a move to Turkey to play for Sivasspor.
Pleat is a great identifier of talent, he recently named Robbie Keane as one of his greatest signings for Tottenham, but it's fair to say he slightly misjudged just how far Pritchard could go in the game.
Tottenham currently have some incredible talent in their academy such as Mikey Moore and Jamie Donley, and, hopefully, they can make it in the first-team at Spurs.
