Oliver Skipp – Tottenham Hotspur

Standing at 5ft 9in, Oliver Skipp is a central midfielder who began his youth career at Bengeo Tigers before joining the Tottenham Hotspur Academy set-up in 2008, aged 8.

He signed his first professional contract in August 2018 which was to last an initial three years, before going onto make his first team debut in a Carabao Cup match against West Ham United in October of that year, with Spurs securing a 3-1 win against the Hammers. Skipp then went on to start a Premier League match for the very first time on 15^th December 2018, beating Burnley 1-0.

Over the course of his first season as a professional player (2018/19), Skipp made 18 appearances in all competitions. He made 8 Premier League appearances, as well as playing in the EFL Cup and the FA Cup. Spurs finished 4^th in the Premier League that season, qualifying for Champions League football. They reached the 4^th round of the FA Cup and the semi-final of the League Cup.

Led by Mauricio Pochettino, this was the season where Spurs went on a fantastic run in the Champions League, reaching the final where they unfortunately lost to Liverpool.

Oliver Skipp was fully integrated into the first team squad for the 2019/20 season, after he was still playing some youth football the previous year. He made 11 senior appearances for Spurs over the course of the season, including 7 in the Premier League. Spurs finished 6^th in the league at the conclusion of the season, qualifying for European Football.

That same season, Tottenham reached the Round of 16 of the Champions League, with Skipp making 2 appearances in this prestigious competition.

After sporadic appearances in the first team up to this point, Skipp was sent out on a season long loan (2020/21) to EFL Championship (Second Tier) side Norwich City, led by then Head Coach Daniel Farke.

Skipp scored his first ever professional goal whilst on loan with the Canaries, which was in a 3 – 1 win against Birmingham City at St. Andrews. Overall, the defensive midfielder made 47 appearances for Norwich over the course of his season on loan with the club. He was part of the team that went on to win the 2020/21 Championship title with 97 points.

As well as his goal, he also provided 2 assists for his teammates.

After impressing in his loan spell, Skipp became a much more regular feature in Tottenham’s starting eleven last season (2021/22). In all, he made 28 appearances in all competitions, with 18 of these coming in the Premier League – he would have made further appearances if it was not for a severe pelvic injury that he suffered in January 2022 which kept him on the side-lines for the remainder of that season.

It was a stellar season for Spurs, finishing 4^th ahead of North London rivals Arsenal with 71 points, 2 ahead of the Gunners.

Oliver Skipp has continued to be a regular for Tottenham this season (2022/23) under Antonio Conte, with 19 appearances in all competitions to date. He scored his first ever Tottenham goal in spectacular fashion in a crucial 2-0 win against London rivals Chelsea in February 2023.