What Tottenham star James Maddison said to 'next Harry Kane' speaks volumes

Will Lankshear could be handed just his second Tottenham start in Thursday's Europa League trip to Galatasaray. The 19-year-old, who has been dubbed as the 'next Harry Kane', made his Spurs debut from the start during last month's 2-1 win over Ferencvaros.

Although Lankshear - a powerful, strong and lethal centre forward - failed to find the back of the net against the Hungarian side, he produced a promising performance before being taken off in the 66th minute. The teenager hasn't featured for Tottenham since but could be thrown back into the XI given their injury concerns.

In training on Tuesday, James Maddison hinted that Lankshear could be about to get more game time. The 28-year-old former Leicester midfielder hyped him up before going out on to the grass at Hotspur Way.

"Willy Lanks [Will Lankshear], that's a man that is scoring some goals in training," Maddison said, as captured by the club on social media. "There's a man who's scoring today, let's go big boy."

Lankshear started his career in the Arsenal academy before moving to Sheffield United following his shock release in February 2021. He captained the Blades to the Under 18s Professional Development League title in the following season, scoring 38 goals in 48 appearances across all competitions.

Sheffield United were ready to offer Lankshear a new contract, only for Tottenham to swoop in and sign him for £2million in August 2022. His development continued at Spurs and last season Lankshear scored 23 goals for their Under 21s team in Premier League 2, including a brace in the play-off final victory over Sunderland.

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With Richarlison set to miss the next couple of weeks with a hamstring injury, Lankshear could be handed his chance to shine against Galatasaray. Mikey Moore could come back into the XI, while Dominic Solanke may be given a rest after scoring twice in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.

Speaking ahead of the trip to Istanbul, Postecoglou said: "That's why you play football. Especially this generation, a lot of them have experienced what football is like without supporters. You certainly don't like that when we went through Covid.

"We're looking forward to it. It's a fantastic stadium. The supporters create an unbelievable atmosphere here and they love the big European nights. They're a very, very good team. It's exactly the kind of games you want to be involved in in Europe, whether you're young, you're old, irrespective of the role you have, you look forward to it."

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