Tottenham have made no secret of their desire to become a top-tier destination for the world’s best young talent. “You can try to sell a vision to someone, but if there’s tangible physical evidence of it… Anyone who has watched us since I’ve joined will have seen the aspirations we have to be the kind of team we want to be. That’s not just me saying it, we’re actually doing it,” said former head coach Ange Postecoglou when he was calling the shots in N17.
Postecoglou was referencing the signing of Lucas Bergvall at the back end of the winter 2024 transfer window, with Spurs pipping Barcelona to the Swedish prodigy’s signature. A few months prior, they had beaten Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain to Croatian wonderkid Luka Vuskovic, and later hijacked Brentford’s move for Archie Gray.
There’s been a conscious effort to bring down the average age of the senior side since abandoning the win-now principles of the Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte eras, and Postecoglou had a hand in all three of those signings. Before being fired, the Australian also helped convince another exciting prospect to move to north London.
Masia Melia will become the latest teenager to join the youth revolution at Hotspur Way in January, when he arrives from League of Ireland outfit St Patrick’s Athletic. Though he’s only just turned 18, the forward has racked up almost 100 appearances in senior football.
So, who is Melia, why did Tottenham pay a record sum to sign him, and is he worthy of all the hype? GOAL takes a closer look at Irish football’s newest sensation…
