Tottenham supporters have been waiting for a first proper sighting of Mikey Moore in senior action.
They will have heard the murmur of excitement about the young winger as he was accelerated through the youth ranks.
They might have caught some of the goals he scored for the academy teams clipped on social media or glimpsed his first few fleeting appearances from the bench since his debut against Manchester City in May.
But on Thursday night in Budapest when Ange Postecoglou selected him to start against Ferencvaros in the Europa League and left him on until the very end, they saw what all the fuss has been about with a young man not two months beyond his 17th birthday.
‘Outstanding,’ was the verdict from Postecoglou, and the Spurs boss went on to remind everyone that it is far from normal for any player so young to be making any impression on elite football, even if Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal did take Euro 2024 by storm at a similar sort of age.
Seventeen-year-old Mikey Moore impressed on his first senior start for Spurs on Thursday
Moore has been creating a buzz inside the club’s academyand Spurs worked hard to keep him
‘Yamal is brilliant but it’s not a common thing. It’s still pretty rare because you have to take into account not just their physical maturity at 17 of being able to handle it but their emotional maturity, you’ve got to be really careful.
‘There are always exceptions to the rule and Yamal is certainly one of them, but if you look at the Premier League how many 17-year-olds are actually contributing? Mikey already is, which shows he’s got something special.
‘We’ve just got to be really careful about how we develop that because it’s too easy just to say, ‘oh, you know, he’s a great young player, just throw him in there’, especially in the Premier League because of all the leagues probably in Europe, it’s the most physically challenging.’
Postecoglou started with four teenagers in his team for the 2-1 win at Ferencvaros and was delighted with them all.
Archie Gray, 18, was wonderfully composed in central defence in the first half and at left back in the second. Like Moore, he played the entire game.
Lucas Bergvall, 18, found the going harder in midfield in a high-tempo contest but worked hard until he was replaced.
Will Lankshear, 19 and prolific in the Under-21s last season, made his Tottenham debut up front and might have marked it with a goal, going close on three occasions.
It is Moore though who has been creating the real buzz inside the club’s academy for some time and he might have been into the first team sooner were it not for injuries last season.
Ange Postecoglou praised the ‘outstanding’ youngster after his debut against Ferencvaros
The feeling at Tottenham is that the young winger could mature into a very special talent
The feeling is that the winger born in Southwark and educated at the Strood Academy in Rochester in Kent could mature into a very special talent and Spurs worked hard to keep him at the club when there were other clubs tempting him to leave at 16.
Senior players have been impressed but their instinct is to be protective, conscious of the perils of overnight fame can bring with it.
‘Everybody is looking after him and so do I,’ said captain Heung-min Son. ‘He’s such a lovely kid, working hard every single day, coming with the first team with that age it’s not easy, sometimes you’re very shy.
‘But he’s showing good personality and working hard, which is very important to me. When you see the young players are working hard in the first team and you just want to help, you just want to help him.
‘When I was young, it was Ruud van Nistelrooy helping me a lot in my Hamburg time. Now I want to be that guy as well. Just having him around me and just talking about things, because we are playing in a similar position.
‘If I can help him a little bit with advice, then I’m always open to it. Mikey is also coming to me most of the times and asking questions, which is very fun. I enjoy talking to him. He’s a fantastic boy and I’m definitely sure that he can be a fantastic player. There’s no doubt because he has such amazing quality.
‘As we always say about young players, let’s not give him too much pressure on his shoulders. Just let’s enjoy how he develops, how he improves every single day, every single season and as a fan, as supporters, we should just enjoy watching him and he will be, I think, one of the top players.’
James Maddison echoed those sentiments on the eve of the Europa League tie in Budapest as he recalled the first time Moore was promoted to train with the first team, last season, when he was just 16.
Will Lankshear also made his Tottenham debut up front and went close on three occasions
Brennan Johnson came off the bench to score for Tottenham for the fifth game in succession
A young Spurs side started the game, with Archie Gray, 18, lining up in various defensive areas
‘When he first came up, I had to remind myself how young he actually was,’ said Maddison. ‘He was 16 and more of like a man already. When I watch him play, he’s very powerful, and he’s only going to get stronger as he develops into his body.
‘It’s quite scary, he’s got a lot of ability. But I don’t want him to feel any pressure because he’s getting a lot of people talking about him, and rightly so, and that’s down to him training well, getting in the first team and getting exposure which is what he wants.
‘Firstly, he’s a great kid… a really polite and well-mannered young man, which is a credit to his family because as a senior player with a young lad coming up that’s the first thing you recognise. You don’t want a young lad coming up with that arrogance, and that who does he think he is?
‘Then there’s his ability on the ball. We’ve seen it in training and the Spurs fans will be keen to see more in games. But we see it in training. He’s got bags of ability and it looks to me as if he loves the game, loves playing, gets tackles and sometimes falls on the floor and jumps up as if nothing’s happened and he wants the ball again.’
This was clearly in evidence in Budapest where hours of relentless rain ahead of the game made for a slippery surface and there was one early sliding tackle which left Moore in a heap.
It did not deter him. He continued to demand the ball, showing signs of a natural chemistry with Pedro Porro on the right and teased experienced full-back Cristian Ramirez.
Moore is predominantly right footed but has two good feet, can play on either side and attack his full back on either side.
He is tall and strong for his age and beautifully balanced which enables him to feint and jink and change pace with ease.
In midfield was the highly-rated Lucas Bergvall, 18, started in midfield for the second European game in a row
Some of the goals in Tottenham’s youth teams which has stirred the most interest have seen him weaving through the tackles before finding the net but he proved in Budapest he is mature enough to make the right choices in the heat of the game.
‘It’s just his ability to deal with pressure and keeping the ball in really tight areas and making really good clean decisions for a young guy,’ said Postecoglou when asked what he admired most about Moore’s full debut.
‘It’s not easy out there you can see the conditions. It suits defenders because they can fly in with tackles and he got one in the first 30 seconds.
‘He keeps his feet well and he takes the responsibility of driving inside or taking his man on. He makes good decisions with the ball. He’s got so much growth still, but the good thing is he wants to learn, he wants to develop, and I couldn’t be happier for him but also pretty pleased that he’s part of our football club.’
The secret is well and truly out now. Postecoglou will be careful with Moore but at the same time, he is part of the first-team squad and he will not hesitate to play him again if he thinks it is the right decision.
With Richarlison, Wilson Odobert and Son all injured, the Spurs fans can expect to see plenty more of Moore in the weeks ahead.