Tottenham must avoid past loan mistakes after big £5m decision this week - Opinion
Tottenham have often mishandled the development of young signings in the past, but with Kota Takai on the brink of arrival, the club cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes.
Tottenham Hotspur are expected to confirm the signing of Kota Takai, a 20-year-old Japanese international from Kawasaki Frontale, in the coming days after reaching a £5m agreement with the player’s club.
The young centre-back has no experience playing in the Premier League, having spent all of his professional career in Japan, rising through the ranks at J League side Kawasaki Frontale.
Of course, Takai is a player with enormous potential, according to a J League expert, who pointed out that it is virtually unheard of for a player as young as the centre-back to already have been capped by the Japanese national team.
Some Tottenham supporters even believe their new Japanese signing is one for the future, while others have questioned whether he is of the level required to elevate Tottenham Hotspur into Premier League title contenders.
Regardless, it has been claimed that the second signing of the Thomas Frank era is expected to join the Tottenham first team.
Whether that is for the remainder of the season remains to be seen, though the prospect of a loan this summer has not been ruled out, as Tottenham might be keen to get their new centre-back some experience in European football.
But there is one mistake they have to avoid, should they opt to loan the 20-year-old out this summer, a mistake that has become all too familiar in north London.
Tottenham must avoid poor loan choices for Kota Takai
Indeed, given Takai’s age and lack of experience in Europe, few would raise their eyebrows if the 20-year-old were to be loaned.
Tottenham have several options open to them if they decide to loan the Japanese international away from North London for at least one season.
There is the option to send him back to the J1 League, a strategy that was deployed after the signing of Yang Min-Hyeok, as the club allowed the young winger to continue his development in familiar surroundings.
There is also the option to send Takai on loan to a club in the second division of English football, where he could link up with Ryan Mason at West Bromwich Albion, if a deal can be struck.
Spurs could also consider loaning their new centre-back signing to a side in the Premier League, although that may prove difficult given his inexperience. Alternatively, he could be loaned abroad to Spain, France or Germany to gather some much-needed experience.
However, while loaning the centre-back abroad is a reasonable logical next step on paper, it is a familiar storyline at Tottenham – one that simply has not worked out well in the past.
Spurs must not repeat Bryan Gil and Alejo Veliz mistakes
We have seen this mistake before with the likes of Bryan Gil and Alejo Veliz, where Tottenham sent these youngsters out on loan to less physical leagues like La Liga, never giving them the chance to acclimatise to the speed and physicality of English football, which ultimately hindered their chances of breaking into the Tottenham first team.
Gil is expected to secure a permanent move to Girona, while Veliz’s future remains uncertain, with reports suggesting he could be sold this summer.
However, there have been successful loan spells – such as with Pape Matar Sarr, Destiny Udogie, Lucas Bergvall and Yang Min Hyeok – who all benefited from spending an additional season at their previous clubs on loan, allowing them to further develop before staking a claim for a place in the Spurs first team.
In fact, with Yang, he was handed a loan move to an English side in the Championship during the winter window, after joining Tottenham permanently, to help him adjust to the physicality of English football.
That should be the same path for Kota Takai, who, as stated by J League expert Ben Robson, could struggle with the demands of English football, particularly the physical side of the game.
If Tottenham are serious about allowing the youngster to progress to the point where he becomes a first-team regular within a year or two, then it only makes sense to avoid the mistakes made with Gil and Veliz.
Takai must be loaned to a Championship or Premier League side to give him the experience he desperately needs.
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