Spurs want to sign "incredible" Mikey Moore rival

Tottenham Hotspur have endured a mixed start to the season this year.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have played some enthralling football at times and picked up some significant scalps in the process, but have also stumbled in games against struggling sides like Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town and currently find themselves in tenth in the Premier League.

However, while the North Londoners’ results have been somewhat mixed, an unmistakable positive from the campaign has been the introduction of several youth talents, including academy jewel Mikey Moore.

The 17-year-old looks like he could be a future superstar, and based on recent reports, the club are targeting another young attacker to compete with him in the coming years, a youngster who could be Spurs’ next Dele Alli.

Tottenham Hotspur transfer news

According to a recent report from Spain, Tottenham are one of several sides interested in Aston Villa gem Louie Barry.

Alongside the Lilywhites, the report has revealed that fellow Premier League side Leicester City are also interested in signing the 21-year-old talent.

The Sutton Coldfield-born attacker is currently on loan with League One outfit Stockport County, but according to the report, an offer of around €15m – £12.5m – could be enough to tempt the Villans into selling either in January or next summer.

It might seem like a lot of money for a youngster who’s untested at the top level, but based on his recent performances, he could be the ideal player to rival and push Moore to improve, and he could well be the club’s next Dele as well.

Why Barry would be good for Moore and Spurs’ new Dele

Okay, so before we look at how Barry could be an ideal rival for Moore in the coming years, let’s examine how he could be Spurs’ new Dele.

It’s quite simple as the two players share one thing in common: they are, or were, in the former Lilywhites star’s case, stars of the English Football League.

Before the North Londoners opted to splash £5m on their former midfield maestro, he was making a name for himself in League One for MK Dons.

In his final campaign with the club, in the 14/15 season, the Milton Keynes-born star was simply unplayable, scoring 16 times and providing nine assists in just 39 appearances in the third tier.

Unsurprisingly, this was enough to earn him the Football League’s Young Player of the Year Award in April of that year, and based on Barry’s performances for Stockport so far this year, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him win that same award in six months.

We say this as in just 17 appearances, the dynamic forward has proven – in the words of Stockport’s Director of Football Simon Wilson that he “can scare the life out of defenders” – racking up 12 goals and one assist, meaning he’s currently averaging a goal involvement once every 1.30 games.

This sensational form and the potential to be the next Dele also makes the “incredible” attacker, as dubbed by England international Declan Rice, the ideal candidate to rival and develop alongside Moore in the coming years.

Barry’s Stockport record
Season	23/24	24/25
Appearances	22	17
Goals	9	12
Assists	1	1
Goal Involvements per Match	0.45	0.76
All Stats via Transfermarkt

Indeed, like the Lilywhites’ promising academy star, the Villa gem has the ability to play across the frontline but generally prefers to play off the left of a front three.

Therefore, he could provide the 17-year-old with some genuine competition in the coming years, and should he eventually lose out to the “fearless” teen, as dubbed by James Maddison, he can always move out to the right or even into another position should Postecoglou envision a different role for him down the line.

Ultimately, with Spurs building for the future with acquisitions like Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Min-hyeok Yang on top of the promotion of academy stars like Moore and Will Lankshear, it makes sense to add another up-and-coming star in Barry to the mix, especially if he can replicate the form Dele initially showed upon his jump from League One to the Premier League all those years ago.