Yaya Toure names the two young Tottenham wonderkids to watch out for in the future
Yaya Toure has picked out Mikey Moore and Callum Olusesi as two young teenage stars to watch at Tottenham in the years ahead.
Former Manchester City star Toure left his job as Spurs’ U16s coach in order to become assistant manager at Belgian side Standard de Liege last month. He had earned plaudits for his work within Tottenham’s academy and left a talented group behind ready to make the next step up.
When asked this week if he was leaving a solid bunch of young players who would potentially make it to Ange Postecoglou’s first squad, the 40-year-old mentioned both Moore, 15, and Olusesi, 16, as ones to keep an eye on. Despite interest from across the Premier League and Europe, the club has recently committed the talented pair to new scholarship terms. The pair played key roles as Spurs won the U18 and U17 Premier League Cups.
“Yeah, definitely. Mikey Moore and Callum Olusesi are top grade U16s, they are really good and most of the time they were playing with the 18s,” Toure said in an interview with PA Sport. “A few weeks before I left I heard they signed with Tottenham again and that is brilliant news.
Keep the talent in-house and make sure they continue to grow under the guidance of qualified instructors. I believe that instructors like Stuart Lewis, Brad Allen, and Chris Ramsay are aware of what those children require in order to grow. I believe Tottenham can resurrect the academy in a few years much like Arsenal did with Saka and Smith-Rowe. That is the strategy and the goal.
Toure owed Tottenham for how they handled the incident, which led to his own decision to relocate to Belgium to start his senior coaching career.
“Tottenham did not stand in my way and they let me go and I think that was brilliant,” he said. “I would love to carry on in Tottenham [one day] because my belief and development was to try to work with the grown men.
“If the opportunity to go back was there then why not, because what Tottenham did for me was incredible, they allowed me to work there and develop as a coach and for what they did for me I will never be able to thank them enough.
“They opened the door for me and allowed me to express myself in the right manner and do the things I wanted to do. That is a real positive for me. Of course at the end of the day I move on but Tottenham is always going to be a great club and one that will always mean something to me.”
