Tottenham Hotspur’s Alfie Devine continues to grow his reputation at Port Vale with the Premier League loanee scoring a superb overhead kick against Cheltenham Town on Saturday. 

Unfortunately for Alfie Devine, the finest goal of his senior career coincided with what Port Vale coach Andy Crosby described as ‘our poorest performance of the season’. 

The Tottenham starlet’s glorious opener on the half-hour mark – acrobatically thumping a bouncing ball over his shoulder and into the roof of the net – counted for nothing at full-time. Cheltenham fought back to secure only their second win of the League One season with the teenager’s latest eye-catching display little more than a consolation.

That, meanwhile, was the teenager’s second goal for the Valiants. He’ll struggle to score a better one. 

Tottenham Hotspur’s Alfie Devine shining on loan

“He’s an exciting young player who shows a maturity beyond his years on the pitch,” Crosby said back in September after the England U20 international arrived at Vale Park (BBC Sport). 

“That comes as a result of the elite environments he has already experienced with Tottenham and England.

“It’s testament to the progress the club is making on and off the pitch that top clubs are now trusting us with their best young talent.”

Devine, who only celebrated his 19th birthday in August, should return to Tottenham in 2024 a more mature, more confident player, with a full season of senior football under his belt. More athletic, rubber-limbed finishes like against Cheltenham, meanwhile, will do his hopes of catching Ange Postecoglou’s eye no harm. 

Postecoglou watching Devine closely

“(Postecoglou’s style is) very different to the last kind of football we played (before), and everyone is buying into this one a lot because it’s all about being brave on the ball, not being shy to get on it,” Devine told Football London after impressing during the pre-season tour of Australia. 

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“I think once you get that, everyone just enjoys playing it. So far everyone is loving it. The more you are on the ball the better.

“(Ange told me to) just focus on each and every training session. When it’s normal training, he’ll mostly observe everything and then make a point every now and then. You always know he’s there watching you though.

“It’s a good thing, definitely.”

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