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Who Is This Tottenham Starlet Nominated For The Golden Boy Award? Is He Worth All The Hype?

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Kyle Walker-Peters

The Next Big Thing? How Good Is Kyle-Walker Peters?

A list of 25 contenders have been drawn up for the 2017 Golden Boy award, a prize run by Italian newspaper Tuttosport that looks to reward the best European footballer under 21 years of age. The award has been around for 14 years and is voted for by a panel of 30 journalists. The very first winner was former Spurs winger Rafael van der Vaart in 2003.

The nominees include PSG’s Kylian Mbappe, Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele, Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus, Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic, AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ajax striker Kasper Dolberg, Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Liverpool’s Dominic Solanke and Joe Gomez, West Ham’s Reece Oxford, Tottenham Hotspur’s Kyle Walker-Peters, Espanyol’s Aarón Martin, RB Liepzig’s Jean-Kévin Augustin, Juventus’s Rodrigo Bentacur, Fiorentina’s Federico Chiesa, Napoli’s Amadou Diawara, PSV’s Steven Bergwijn, Leverkusen’s Benjamin Henrichs, Real Madrid’s Borja Mayoral and Theo Hernandez, Celta Vigo’s Emre Mor, Nice’s Allan Saint-Maximin, Monaco’s Youri Tielemans and Villareal’s Enes Unal.

There’s plenty of overseas talent on the shortlist, but it seems like the European press has taken notice by including Kyle Walker-Peters, and surprisingly so. What’s so special about Edmonton-born Walker-Peters that has seen him getting nominated alongside the likes of sublime talents like Mbappe, Pulisic, Jesus etc?

Walker-Peters has been highly rated by the club’s coaches, winning the Premier League’s under-21 player of the month in December 2015. Blessed with frightening pace, touch of guile and dribbling ability, he is a player capable of playing as a right-back and as a left-back. What sets apart Walker-Peters from the others of his age is his versatility and ability to read the game, which is immense.

The 20-year old has been capped by England at U18 and U19 level, and enjoyed a fruitful campaign as England lifted the U20 World Cup in South Korea this summer. Primarily being a right-back, Walker-Peters gave some fantastic displays at left-back position, which is not his favoured role.

Back to the club, Walker-Peters was always supposed to be down the pecking order, behind Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose and Ben Davies. But his fortunes opened up a bit when his almost-namesake Kyle Walker was sold to Manchester City. The move certainly might have motivated the 20-year old and after a couple of appearances on the bench, he started challenging Trippier as team’s first choice right-back in Tottenham’s US tour.

Seeing his talent and dedication, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino decided to keep him involved with the first team and blocked any loan moves. Walker-Peters repaid Pochettino’s faith with impressive displays in friendlies against the likes of Roma, PSG and Manchester City during the US tour.

An ankle-injury to Trippier in the final pre-season friendly proved to be a blessing for Walker-Peters as Pochettino threw him at the sharks for his full Premier League debut in the season opener against Newcastle United. The aftermath was Spurs’ comfortable 2-0 win, but what was even substantial than the victory was Walker-Peters’s promising debut earning him the man of the match award. The MOTM itself was a testament to the defender’s qualities.

Trippier soon recovered from his injury and Spurs acted swiftly to fill the void left by Kyle Walker by signing marauding right-back Serge Aurier from PSG. Walker-Peters, for his fantastic and industrious debut, was rewarded with a new three-year deal that keeps him at London until 2018.

In the Carabao Cup against Barnsley on Wednesday at Wembley, Walker-Peters completed a solid 90 minutes on the left. It was an assured performance from the full-back, which speaks volumes about the talent he possesses.

However, it is very unlikely for him to win the Golden Boy award ahead of goal-scoring machines like Mbappe, Pulisic, Dembele or Rashford. But on a brighter note, the talented World Cup-winning defender will believe that getting nominated is an honour in itself.

Versatile Walker-Peters has to improve his decision-making as it is just the start of his long career. What one can assess from his initial displays is that he is one for the future. Watch out for Walker-Peters scripting headlines in the near future!