In cruise control at Selhurst Park with Tottenham four goals to the good against Crystal Palace, Antonio Conte summoned Harvey White from the substitutes' bench. It was finally time for his long-awaited Premier League debut.
A regular in Tottenham first-team training at Hotspur Way over the past couple of seasons and featuring in the FA Cup and Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2020/21, the midfielder has had to be incredibly patient for his league bow to come his way. Named in the matchday squad in the league 19 times last campaign but remaining an unused substitute on each occasion, the 21-year-old has been on the bench three times in the Premier League this term as well as in five of their six Champions League group games.
Perhaps just waiting for the ideal moment to introduce him from the bench, it finally came in the 86th minute of Wednesday evening's game in south east London. It may have only been for a matter of minutes but it is something the Maidstone-born player, who dedicated the game to his Tottenham-supporting grandfather who sadly passed away a few months ago, will remember for the rest of his life.
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"Weirdly enough I wasn't nervous, I just felt like I've been working for this moment for a long time," he said in an extended interview with SPURSPLAY. "It's something I have dreamt of and it was one of my dreams. It was more I just want to get out there and show the people what I can do, show the fans what I can do and hopefully I did that in the short amount of time. I just loved it."
The player also got a nice memento to keep following his league debut as the whole Tottenham squad signed his matchday shirt. Ben Davies, taking to his Instagram Stories, stated that he felt like a "proud dad" after coming on at the same time as the Tottenham academy graduate.
A matter of hours after his debut, White was back with the club's academy on Thursday as he posed for a photo with Spurs' Under-21 stars and the academy coaches while holding his signed shirt. Another nice moment for all involved, it also demonstrated to those currently in the academy that it is possible to make the step up and become a part of the first-team squad.
A permanent fixture in first-team training, the recent break in play due to the World Cup taking place did work in White's favour as it handed him some quality time with Conte with a number of the first team in Qatar. Tottenham played three games in that period against Motherwell, Peterborough United Under-21s and Nice, with the midfielder playing in a more advanced role as he took up a false nine position alongside Dejan Kulusevski and Bryan Gil in attack.
A position perhaps a bit alien to him, he certainly didn't look out of place and took his opportunity with both hands, notably scoring against Peterborough's youngsters. Also coming in on the right of the front three at Selhurst Park, the experience of playing in a number of different roles is only going to benefit him going forward.
"It's very difficult. There's Pierre, Bentancur, Biss, Skippy and Pape, it's a very good six-man midfield I guess with me in it," he said when asked about the midfield battle at the club. "In the three pre-season games the manager played me striker, so I'm learning that role, brought me on in the right No.10 role against Palace. I'm just learning all the roles really. When you learn them all you kind of know what they need from a midfielder because I'm a midfielder and I learn from their perspective what they see. It's really exciting and I feel really good."
Given the fierce competition in Tottenham's midfield, White will have his fingers crossed that he gets minutes in successive games as Spurs host Portsmouth in the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon. It is a match which will see the midfielder come up against his former club having spent the second part of the 2020/21 campaign on loan at Fratton Park.
Plenty of Tottenham fans will undoubtedly be keen on seeing one of their own feature in the third round tie but last season's scare against Morecambe in the same round 12 months ago may result in Conte naming a very strong XI to get the job done. If he is to be named on the bench, Tottenham dashing Pompey hopes nice and early could bode well for White as the head coach will be keen to give a breather to some of his top stars with the north London derby coming up eight days later.
Hailed as a "really intelligent" player by Conte who can play in any role, it has been a very good few days for White, and it could potentially get even better if he is to help Tottenham advance to the fourth round of the famous competition. Wherever he plays on the pitch for Tottenham for the head coach, the Italian's management of him is only going to help him become a better midfielder in the long run.
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