2 weeks Ago
Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou says comparisons to Brazil forward Neymar will not affect teenage midfielder Mikey Moore. The 17-year-old, who signed his first professional contract with the club in August, starred in Spurs' 1-0 Europa League win against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday. Despite it being Moore's second start for the club, team-mate James Maddison likened the playmaker to Al-Hilal striker Neymar following the victory.
Postecoglou, though, says the club will be patient with Moore and he will not get distracted by the praise. "I think we all understand with young players, you have to be careful but after the game, I don't get the sense that that's going to affect Mikey at all," said Postecoglou. "There's no denying he was great last night.
I thought he was great the whole game. It's exciting for us." Moore's contract announcement was met with relief and excitement by supporters.
The England Under-19 international had just two first-team appearances to his name at that point but the buzz around Moore has been bubbling for a number of years, despite his age. Moore was a standout performer during Spurs' pre-season tour, scoring twice and featuring in all six matches. With so much anticipation for the youngster's development, some supporters feared losing Moore before he had even started a match for the first team.
Moore is now pushing to become a first-team regular. "He's ready to start any game, I just feel, especially with younger players, you've just got to be really careful about their introduction into senior football," said Postecoglou. "He's still physically growing, you have to take that into account so I think he's ready to play, start a Premier League game for sure but for me it's about making sure, for us, that we develop Mikey in the right way.
" Postecoglou added that Tottenham captain Son-Heung-min was unlikely to play in Sunday's Premier League trip to Crystal Palace. "Sonny's still not right, he's still not feeling 100%," the Australian said. "He won't train today, so he's unlikely for this weekend and we'll see after that.
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