The 20-year-old is thriving on loan at Spurs from Manchester United and she is the talk of the town after marking her international debut with a goal
It took Robert Vilahamn, the Tottenham boss, just one competitive match to believe that Grace Clinton could be England’s next “superstar”. His comments might have seemed bold at the time but, after the 20-year-old’s incredible start to her Lionesses career this past week, they have aged like a fine wine.
Granted her senior international debut by Sarina Wiegman last Friday, Clinton made an already memorable day even more so when she marked it with her first goal for the Lionesses. Four days later, Wiegman gave her another opportunity and she grasped it just as firmly, shining in a different midfield role as England thrashed Italy.
Perhaps it is because she is playing for a mid-table Women’s Super League side, on loan at Spurs from Manchester United, that her performances this season have gone under the radar. But Wiegman has certainly noticed and her trust in the youngster has thrust her into the spotlight almost overnight.
For those who have been aware of the hype simmering around Clinton for the last few years, the events of this past week might not have been a huge surprise. But for many more, it has been an introduction to a player who, in Vilahamn’s words, will be England’s next No.10.
GettyPromising talent
Born in Liverpool, Clinton was first spotted by then-Everton boss Andy Spence when she was just 10 years old. However, despite being offered a trial for the club’s regional talent centre, she continued to play for her school and Old Xavs, the boys' team that her father helped to set up. "He wanted me to carry on playing in the boys’ team in grassroots football because they were stronger than me," Clinton explained in a column for in October.
A few years later, though, she took up the invitation and it was through Everton’s youth set-up that she would continue to progress, sitting on the fringes of the first-team from around the age of 17 before putting pen-to-paper on a professional contract a few months later.
“She is an enormous talent and has come on leaps and bounds this season,” Willie Kirk, Everton’s head coach at the time, said when the news was announced. “Technically, she is fantastic and her tactical knowledge is already at a good level. She has improved her physical conditioning and professionalism and if this improvement continues, who knows how good she can be. She has got the right character to get to the top.”
AdvertisementGettyStruggling to break through
But despite the belief in her talent from Kirk, Clinton struggled to break into Everton’s first-team on a consistent basis, with him citing the competition in midfield as one reason at the time.
“She was a great kid first of all but she was a little bit frustrating because she was a little bit lazy out of possession," he said in an interview with in October. "I remember, it was in my last game at Everton, she scored a fantastic goal against Manchester City. It was a top, top goal and everyone was talking about it saying, 'That's why she should be playing more'. But everyone forgot she didn't track back for [Caroline] Weir's goal which put us 1-0 down. She was righting her wrongs!”
With her still so young and still needing to refine areas of her game, a summer switch from Everton to Manchester United in 2022 raised a few eyebrows as it hardly felt like there was an easier path to the first-team there. With an injury to the midfielder also playing a part, head coach Marc Skinner took some time to decide the best course of action for her development and, in January of last year, sent Clinton on loan to Bristol City in the Championship.
Shining as a starter
That switch was the start of a really impressive and exciting 12 months or so for Clinton. Marking her debut at Bristol with a late goal that helped her new team come from 2-1 down to win 3-2 in stoppage time, head coach Lauren Smith didn’t hold back with her praise for the then-19-year-old in her post-match interview. “She's got something special,” she said.
Scoring six goals and registering one assist in 10 Championship starts, Clinton helped Bristol win promotion to the WSL during her four-month stint and it was clear that she was ready to make that step up, whether with the Robins, Man Utd or someone else. In the end, it was the latter, with Spurs securing her services for the 2023-24 season, and it did not take her long to show the top-flight what she was all about.
GettyUp another level
Spurs had a tough opening fixture in this WSL season, travelling to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea, the reigning champions. But in the end, the north London side were unlucky to make the short trip home empty-handed after a particularly impressive second-half display, in which Clinton was one of their stand-out individuals. The 20-year-old was only denied a wonder-goal by an excellent Zecira Musovic stop and it was her saved shot that led to Martha Thomas pulling one back in an eventual 2-1 defeat.
“She’s only 20 years old and she was so dominant in this game,” Spurs boss Vilahamn said afterwards. “She will be the next superstar in this country if you ask me. I think she’s brilliant and has the potential to be so good.”
It was a case of Clinton setting the tone for her time with the club because she has only got better since that opening weekend. No one in the WSL has completed more dribbles than the youngster, who has been thriving in a wider role, racking up four goals and two assists in 13 appearances for a team that sits bang in the middle of the table, in sixth place.
It's a different position for Clinton, who has played in the holding midfield, box-to-box, No.10 and No.9 roles throughout her young career. But Vilahamn has got good results with his strategy so far, even if he believes her future will be in a different area of the pitch.
“She’s a No.10, absolutely. In the future, she’s going to start as a No.10 in the national team, I’m quite sure of that,” he said earlier this season, making a prediction that would come true only a few months later. “Sometimes when you’re young and you want to be on the ball, and you don’t want to lose it in the risky moments, taking a step out to the left like she’s doing now is a good way because then she can go into the space with the ball, instead of starting in the space. Then she’s also finding her way into that pocket and taking a shot. For me, she will be a No.10, but right now, she’s doing a good job for me as a left-winger, so she will probably end up in both positions.”