Conte calls 18-year-old up to Spurs training, once tipped to become ‘Pochettino’s future RB’

Add as preferred source on Google

Spurs may not be in competitive action until next week, but things are certainly busy at Hotspur Way.

Tottenham brought in Antonio Conte just under a fortnight ago after parting company with Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Italian had to deal with a couple of key fixtures right away, but he’s done well so far.

Conte won his first game in charge of Spurs – a 3-2 win over Vitesse in the Europa Conference League – before playing out a 0-0 draw at Everton in the Premier League.

Now, he will get a good chance to familiarise himself with his new surroundings, plan transfer activity and take a look at the Tottenham players who haven’t gone away.

The international break will often see first-team managers take a closer look at fringe players and academy talents.

And one youngster who featured in training this week was once deemed a potential future star for Mauricio Pochettino at right-back.

Dermi Lusala is an 18-year-old full-back from Edmonton who has been capped at youth level for England.

The defender attended St Ignatius College, which is close to the club’s Hotspur Way training base, and excelled in athletics.

Previously playing for Brentford until 2016, Lusala made his debut for the Under-18s while he was still at school.

He earned promotion to the Spurs Under-23s in the summer and has made one appearance for them to date.

In 2019, football.london wrote a feature article on Lusala, suggesting he “could become Mauricio Pochettino’s future right-back”.

“The academy ace is still very raw but there is hope that he will take his game to another level in the future and become another success story for the club,” they wrote.

Two years on and he’s featuring under Conte in first-team training – he’s certainly one to watch over the coming seasons.