Cost nothing, now worth £18m: Pochettino struck gold at Spurs with "absolute machine" - opinion

Tottenham Hotspur have missed Oliver Skipp in recent weeks and that’s a huge compliment to his ability at just 21 years of age.

Antonio Conte has been without the academy graduate for their last three Premier League outings after he sustained an injury just 34 minutes into their defeat against the Italian’s former club, Chelsea.

Spurs would then be defeated by Southampton and Wolves in embarrassing fashion before defeating Manchester City with a stunning 95th-minute winner on Saturday afternoon.

The north Londoners still let in two goals at the Etihad Stadium, meaning they have conceded a whopping 11 goals across their last five matches, averaging 2.2 goals against them per game.

Skipp has featured in only 27.5% of the 450 minutes of game time during that run of form.

Before then, he started the seven games after Conte’s arrival, where he was part of five clean sheets, so on that basis alone, it’s clear just how crucial he is to the side.

It’s easy to forget that he was on loan to Championship winners Norwich City last season as he has slotted straight in as one of Conte’s regular starters, when fit.

“This player is very young, he has a lot of space for improvement. He played with great passion and heart. It was important. We are talking about an important prospect,” Conte said of Skipp in December.

Every manager since Mauricio Pochettino, who handed Skipp his professional debut back in October 2018  – a win over West Ham in the EFL Cup, has waxed lyrical about his ability and potential.

“I think he’s genuinely Tottenham’s future” former boss Jose Mourinho once claimed. “I see this kid being one day a future captain here by his character, by his personality.”

Indeed, Spurs have seemingly struck gold with the former U23