It happened last summer, and it’ll happen next summer.
At every major international tournament a breakdown will be done explaining the critical role the EFL has played in the England squad’s development.
Whether it’s Jordan Pickford, Jude Bellingham or even Harry Kane, pretty much every member of the current Three Lions side spent time in the Championship or below at some point in their careers.
How much loans or time further down the pyramid helps players is up for debate. It doesn’t always work – I saw Premier League 2 top scorer Tom Dickson-Peters join Gillingham on loan from Norwich in 2022 and fail to score. He’s now without a club, last playing for Uxbridge in the Southern League Premier Division South.
But those England stars show that these lower-division loans can work out. The proof could not be much more in the pudding – and Premier League sides still use their smaller counterparts to help improve their players in the hope that some of them will make it to the big time. And forget the national team, look at the top scorers in the Premier League last season.
Joint-fourth, with 20 goals each, were Bryan Mbeumo – who spent his first two Brentford seasons in the Championship and is now worth £73million to Manchester United – and Chris Wood, long tagged with the ‘journeyman’ label and now proving he is far more than that. Four goals behind in sixth place was Ollie Watkins, who has 66 EFL goals in his career.
One of those sides who continues to put faith in the system is Tottenham. Whether it’s Ange Postecoglou or Thomas Frank in charge, the Europa League winners continue to ship their youngsters out on temporary stays at EFL clubs. Kane is obviously the gold standard – he may not have shone at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich or Leicester, but it clearly helped him leap forward and no one can argue with the results of England and Tottenham’s record goalscorer.
Here, Mail Sport looks at the Spurs stars who will look to make their mark in the lower divisions this season as the club look for their next Kane.
Thomas Frank’s Tottenham are utilising the Football League to send players out on loan
They are searching for the next Harry Kane, who spent time at the likes of Millwall before becoming one of the best strikers in the world
There are high hopes for Jamie Donley, who has joined Stoke after a successful spell with Leyton Orient
Jamie Donley – Stoke City
Wide midfielder Donley, 20, appears to be going through the traditional loan process. After spending last year at Leyton Orient in League One, he’s now signed for Stoke on loan in the Championship with the hope of impressing further.
The man himself said he had a number of sides interested in his services this summer but a chat with Mark Robins convinced him to join. ‘The way he wants to play, both in terms of attacking and defending, definitely suits me,’ he said.
Robins has a good record developing young talent so Donley, who is comfortable at left back and left midfield but sees his future in attacking midfield, will have high hopes. Despite being in a higher division, he will be looking to at least match his tallies of eight goals and 10 assists from last season.
Ashley Phillips – Stoke City
Speaking of Stoke, they are clearly trusted by Spurs given centre back Ashley Phillips, 20, has returned for a second loan spell – and even helped convince Donley that a trip to the Potteries would be the best thing for his career.
Donley said after his move: ‘I had a chat with Ash too and he said it’s a great club, with good people in the building and he can definitely see me contributing to the team in a positive way.’
City narrowly avoided relegation to League One last season, finishing two points ahead of the relegation zone, but Phillips was widely-regarded as one of the stronger performers by the Stoke fanbase.
Goalkeeper Viktor Johansson is led to have been part of a group of Stoke players who campaigned for Phillips’ return – even though he himself has strongly been linked with a move away.
Spurs like Phillips’ frame and agility and he is an England youth international, so he is one to keep an eye on for the future.
Ashley Phillips has also returned to Stoke for the upcoming campaign after spending last season with the Championship side
Will Lankshear – Oxford United
When Tottenham suffered their injury crisis last season – the one that saw them missing 11 senior players – Will Lankshear was one of the youngsters that stepped up, making a handful of Premier League and Europa League appearances, which included a goal (and a red card) in an eventful defeat by Galatasaray.
When the cavalry returned, he headed out on loan to West Brom but struggled, so he has been given another opportunity at Oxford this season.
Having joined Spurs in 2022 from Sheffield United, Lankshear, 20, has set his ambitions high, revealing he wants to emulate the likes of Kane, Jermaine Defoe, Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov.
He also admitted there were ‘a lot of negatives’ about his West Brom stay, but is keen to kick on now under the leadership of Gary Rowett.
Forward Will Lankshear, meanwhile, will spend time with Oxford United on the back of his West Brom loan
Tyrese Hall – Notts County
Notts County are another EFL team that Spurs have a good relationship with and 19-year-old midfielder Tyrese Hall has headed to Meadow Lane for the season, after George Abbott spent last term with the League Two side.
Hall, 19, is regarded by Tottenham youth experts as a player that could crack the Spurs first team in a few years. He clocked five goals and seven assists in Premier League 2 last season, and it has been suggested that he could actually have played at a higher level this season.
Defoe, meanwhile, coached Hall in Spurs’ academy and said he was ‘one of the best players I’ve seen at his age in the country’, while comparing him to Luka Modric and Joe Cole. No pressure, kid.
County have already started their season, and the teenager could feature this weekend against Salford in the side’s opening home league match of the campaign.
Tyrese Hall is set for his first loan as he joins Notts County in League two for the year
George Abbott – Wycombe Wanderers
Abbott would have been in Hall’s ear, telling him all he needed to know about County, but there will be no return for him this season. The 19-year-old has instead signed for Wycombe in the league above.
He found fame last year when he scored the EFL goal of the season against Accrington Stanley, making a dash into the penalty area to volley a deep corner into the back of the net. As you do.
But when he’s not scoring screamers, Abbott is a tenacious midfielder who led Spurs’ Under 21s to the Premier League 2 title a year ago. Comfortable as a No 6 or a No 8, it’s a matter of how high he’ll play when he eventually settles.
George Abbott was with County last year and will now ply his trade with Wycombe in the league above
Damola Ajayi – Doncaster Rovers
Another 19-year-old on his first loan venture is Damola Ajayi, who is an attacker comfortable on either wing or in a central attacking midfield role and has joined Doncaster Rovers.
He came off the bench for his debut at the weekend in Rovers’ opening day 1-0 win over Exeter, and is expected to play a key role for the newly promoted side. Though he has never played a senior game for Spurs in the Premier League, he has regularly been on their bench and scored against Elfsborg in the Europa League last season.
Ajayi did miss from just a few yards out on his debut, but netted against Stamford in pre-season and was also part of Spurs’ Premier League 2 winning squad in 2024.
19-year-old Damola Ajayi has also ventured out on loan for the first time, joining Doncaster
The future
It’s highly unlikely that Spurs are done there. The club have one of the best academies in the county and there is a plethora of talent just waiting to smash through that wall.
There have been high hopes for Croatian defender Luka Vuskovic, 18, and reports suggest he too is available for a loan, with the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin and Kevin Danso ahead of him in the first-team pecking order.
Yang Min-hyeok, 19, is also available for after spending much of last year at QPR in the Championship, and appears to be on his way to Portsmouth in the second tier.
Alfie Devine, 21, formerly of Port Vale and Plymouth, can also leave temporarily, and Dane Scarlett, who was with Oxford for a period last season, likely will too.
