While the opening weeks of the summer transfer window were defined by incomings for Tottenham Hotspur, more recently the focus has appeared to have shifted to player sales. The latest of these is young striker Will Lankshear, with the club confirming his departure Wednesday morning:
Lankshear joins the North Yorkshire club for what could rise to a club-record fee: an initial fee of somewhere between £10-14 million, raising
to £20 million based on certain escalators. It’s a big show of faith in the young forward, who was reportedly in high demand after an interesting campaign with Oxford United last season.
That performance would have intrigued Spurs fans as well, with the team in dire need of club-trained players should Spurs return to Europe. The hope would have been Lankshear could have been one of these, with his excellent movement, physicality, and finishing indicating at least a squad role could be in his future. In some ways, you could call this a short-sighted move.
That transfer fee, however, changes things. It’s a significant monetary gain for a player that has cost Spurs very little, and given reports indicating both a sell-on percentage and matching rights for any future bids, this seems like very smart business; even though it could impact Spurs’ hypothetical future European squads.
It’s sad to see Lankshear go, but an exciting opportunity for him. After tearing it up at youth levels, he adapted pretty well to the step up last season, performing admirably in a struggling Oxford United side. The challenge now will be for Lankshear to establish himself as a regular starter at Boro, with last season’s fifth place side also signing another striker in the form of Hull City forward Kyle Joseph.
Good luck Big Willy Lanks – we’re rooting for you!
