Politics
Jose Mourinho compares 16-year-old Tottenham wonderkid Dane Scarlett to Marcus Rashford and promotes him to first-team
TOTTENHAM manager Jose Mourinho has compared young star Dane Scarlett to Marcus Rashford after his impressive display in the Europa League.
Scarlett, 16, set up Carlos Vinicius’ second goal in Spurs’ 4-1 victory over Wolfsberger on Wednesday evening.
Scarlett is the youngest ever Spurs player to feature in European competiton[/caption]
And Mourinho, who also oversaw some of Rashford’s early years at Manchester United, has now formerly promoted the Lilywhites teenager to the first team from the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
He said: “I do not want to say too much because his academy manager will kill me.
“But he is 17 next month — and next season I want him training with the first-team squad.
“He is a diamond, a kid with incredible potential. He has worked many times with the first team and that gives him a different personality.
“He is still 16, 17 soon, and I believe next season he will be a first-team player — because he has a lot of talent.
“He is a striker, a No 9. But I have been playing him from the sides — similar to Marcus Rashford — and he is already very clever.”
Scarlett has shown tremendous promise since making his debut for Spurs and has now featured four times for the club.
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In setting up Vinicius he became the first 16-year-old to assist a Europa League goal since Kylian Mbappe for Monaco against Spurs in 2015.
And he is not the only Tottenham youngster being given game time by Mourinho.
Marcel Lavinier, 20, and Nile John, 17, also both made their debuts for the club on Wednesday night.
Spurs eased through to the last 16 of the Europa League with an 8-1 victory on aggregate, while Dele Alli stole the show with an incredible overhead kick.
