The Tottenham Hotspur academy duo have committed their immediate future to the club after signing new deals for the season ahead
Matthew Craig and Nile John have both put pen to paper on new contracts with Tottenham Hotspur, football.london understands.
Both players had been approaching the end of their contracts and there was some doubt over what would come next for the two 20-year-olds with fellow development squad player Romaine Mundle having turned down an offer from Spurs and joined Standard de Liege. However, football.london understands that Craig has now committed to a three year deal with the club and John a two-year one.
Craig made his Premier League debut in May, coming on in the final day victory at Leeds United. It was just reward for the versatile Scotland U21 player, who can play as a defensive midfielder, in central defence or as a full back, after a season in which he was one of the development squad’s best players.
John has been at Spurs since the age of seven and made his first team debut two years ago in the Europa League. Despite interest from elsewhere, he was conspicuous by his absence in the list of players released by the club this month, which contained fellow development squad members Jamie Bowden, Kallum Cesay, Malachi Fagan-Walcott, Roshaun Mathurin, Marqes Muir and Romaine Mundle as well as U18s Thomas Bloxham, Brandon Bryan-Waugh and Riley Owen following the conclusion of their scholarships.
Clubs across Europe had been keeping a close eye on the versatile midfielder, with football.london reporting earlier in the season that Brighton, Basel and Cercle Brugge had been among those showing interest at various points, as his contract ran towards its conclusion, while he also drew praise from the coaches of Spurs’ various opponents in the UEFA Youth League this season for his displays in the centre of the pitch.
An offer of a new deal was tabled for John earlier in the season but recent struggles for young players to break into the first team at Tottenham have caused a few academy youngsters to rethink their futures in previous seasons. The hope at the club is that under new head coach Ange Postecoglou that will change with a better pathway from the academy to the first team.
John burst on to the scene in 2021 when he was handed his debut by Jose Mourinho from the bench as a 17-year-old in a Europa League knockout match against Wolfsberger AC. The England U19 international was then named on Spurs’ bench in the Premier League by caretaker boss Ryan Mason for the final game of that season at Leicester City.
The following pre-season brought football aplenty for John as Nuno Espirito Santo used him heavily and handed him his first start in the Europa Conference League qualifier at Pacos de Ferreira, albeit out of position in a front three. However, with the arrival of Antonio Conte, John, who was netting goals galore for the U21s, was unable to get into the Italian’s thinking and was sent out to Charlton on an unsuccessful loan in terms of minutes in League One for the second half of last season.
During this campaign John has been a key man for the U21s, occasionally captaining them, and scored three goals from midfield across 28 appearances. His contract situation always made a January loan unlikely.
