Roberto De Zerbi hails 'special' Tottenham talent as hype grows: 'Precious diamond' | OneFootball

Spurs could have star of the future on their hands as impressive pre-season continues

Roberto De Zerbi has hailed Luca Williams-Barnett as a “precious diamond” and potentially “special player” as the hype around the Tottenham youngster continues to ramp up.

Williams-Barnett impressed hugely again off the bench on Wednesday as Spurs beat A-League opponents Sydney FC 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 friendly draw at Allianz Stadium, providing an attacking spark in the second half.

The 17-year-old later showed his composure and confidence with a successful Panenka spot-kick during the shootout as Tottenham made it three consecutive victories to begin pre-season.

The versatile Williams-Barnett also shone in a deeper role in the second half of last week’s 1-0 behind-closed-doors win over MK Dons at Hotspur Way, catching the eye again as a starter as he played an hour in Sunday’s 2-0 triumph against Auckland FC at Eden Park.

The academy graduate is taking full advantage of more first-team exposure with Tottenham missing a whole host of senior players due to a mixture of injury, lack of match fitness and post-World Cup holidays, having previously established a reputation as one of English football’s brightest youth talents.

Williams-Barnett - who joined Spurs at Under-10s level - was handed his senior competitive Tottenham debut last September aged just 16, introduced by former boss Thomas Frank for the final stages of a Carabao Cup third-round tie against Doncaster.

Frank’s permanent successor De Zerbi too is clearly a fan of the player, whom he believes has significant potential but also obvious areas for improvement.

Cheeky chip: Luca Williams-Barnett netted a Panenka as Tottenham beat Sydney FC on penalties

PA

“We have to manage him like a precious diamond,” the Spurs head coach said of Williams-Barnett after the win over Sydney FC. “We have to help him to improve in the last decision.

“Physically, work harder to become stronger because this time of football, he needs to be strong, and to give him space when there is the right moment.

“I usually give time to all the young players I work with in my career, and he is a potential special player.”

Experienced Tottenham defender Ben Davies also lavished praise on Williams-Barnett after another fine pre-season showing, lauding in particular his fearlessness in possession.

"He's a really top player," Davies said. "He's got a lot of potential. I think you can see the qualities that he's got.

"I think now the next step is developing his habits in the game. But to have a player like that who's got no fear, that has the confidence to try things in games, who doesn't get affected if he loses the ball, I think he's got a bright future ahead of him."