Jamie Donley well and truly made his mark in the 2024/25 season and Tottenham fans are desperate to see more of him come July. Heading across the capital to join League One side Leyton Orient on loan last August, the youngster finished the campaign with eight goals and 11 assists to his name from 52 appearances in all competitions.
There was a period early in the season where the attacking midfielder found himself out of the Orient squad but that did not deter him and he instead fought his way back into the side. Donley really kicked on from that point on and was a real driving force in their rise up the League One table all the way to May’s play-off final which they unfortunately lost.
The 20-year-old’s performances duly wowed all connected with Tottenham and fans want to see him get his opportunity under new boss Thomas Frank in pre-season. Whether or not he does remain a Spurs player beyond the summer transfer window will become clear over the next two months.
football.london understands that Spurs are currently rebuffing loan advances for Donley, who has four years left on his contract and can play in midfield or attack. The north London club will reassess his situation later in the summer after Frank has worked with him on the training pitches in pre-season.
As is always the case in pre-season, a number of youngsters will be part of the squad for the tour of Asia and pitch time is up for grabs. In terms of Donley, he may have a golden opportunity to wow Frank and the coaching staff prior to the team departing for Hong Kong in late July.
Ahead of their match against Arsenal at Kai Tak Stadium on Thursday, July 31, Tottenham will play friendlies away at League One sides Reading and Luton Town. Donley did in fact play against Reading during his time with Leyton Orient last season, registering an assist in a 2-0 win over the Royals in late January.
As Frank could be set to utilise the 4-2-3-1 formation he used regularly at Brentford last season, Donley has intense competition from players such as Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Wilson Odobert and Alfie Devine for a place in the team. However, it may only be Devine and possibly Odobert who he is competing against by the time the Reading friendly on Saturday, July 19 comes around.
Kulusevski and Maddison unfortunately missed the end of Tottenham’s season and didn’t play in the Europa League final win over Manchester United as both sustained knee injuries in the final few weeks of the term. Return dates for both are not clear yet and they may possibly miss a good chunk of pre-season under Frank as a result.
That in turn could open the door for Donley to get his chance in the No.10 role, with Devine also in a similar boat to him as he looks to impress after his time in Belgium with Westerlo. Odobert will be one of the last to return pre-season training at Hotspur Way due to his participation at this summer’s UEFA European U21 Championship for France.
The youngster, as well as fellow countryman Mathys Tel and England Under-21 ace Archie Gray, will finally get to enjoy a bit of time off and it will not be until later in July when he returns, meaning his participation in the Reading game could be in doubt. For that reason, it may be a straight shootout between Donley and Devine for the No.10 role against Reading, providing of course that Frank does deploy that formation at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
With further friendlies to come against Arsenal, Newcastle United and Bayern Munich prior to taking on Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the UEFA Super Cup, the Reading game does look the ideal one to give Donley his chance in the Tottenham starting XI. It certainly makes perfect sense as well considering he came up against them and impressed last season.
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