Tottenham Hotspur sold elite attacker Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in 2013, but at least they held onto his doppelganger – Irish midfielder Kenny McEvoy.
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Waterford-born McEvoy has yet to play for Tottenham’s first team, but he tasted senior football via loan spells at Peterborough United, Colchester United and Stevenage last season.
The 21-year-old secured another loan move this week as he joined League Two York City until January, as reported by Tottenham’s official website.
McEvoy’s loans at Colchester and Stevenage were largely frustrating. He only played once for each club, with both appearances coming as a substitute.
He gained significantly more first-team exposure during his three months with Peterborough, scoring one goal in eight outings. McEvoy’s solitary senior goal to date came during Posh’s 3-2 win over MK Dons in August 2014. Spurs wonderkid Dele Alli also found the net in that fixture.
The move to York is McEvoy’s first loan deal of the 2015-16 season. He has spent most of the campaign so far with Tottenham’s Under-21 side, scoring three goals in five Barclays U21 Premier League matches, including a superb solo strike against Leicester City in September – seen in the video above.
Clearly McEvoy’s career does not compare favourably to that of his illustrious lookalike. At the age of 21, Bale was already a regular starter for Wales and was lighting up the Champions League with athletic assists and goals, including a stunning hat-trick against Inter Milan at the San Siro.
Although the two players are worlds apart in terms of ability, the facial features of McEvoy and the way he styles his hair like Bale did during the pre-ponytail era, are not the only similarities.
Both players boast impressive pace. In fact, according to Futhead, EA Sports gave McEvoy a FIFA 16 pace rating of 87, making him Tottenham’s joint-third fastest player on the game, behind Andros Townsend and Clinton N’Jie. For those of you who are interested, Bale’s FIFA 16 pace rating is 94.
Many fans may look at McEvoy’s stats – from both the virtual and real worlds – and decide that he has no chance of making the grade at White Hart Lane.
However, as recently as January 2014, current first-team Spurs star Ryan Mason was a 22-year-old unknown on loan at League One Swindon Town. Now, he is a senior international and a recognised Premier League player.
England no.9 Harry Kane was also a fairly late bloomer, so don’t be too surprised if McEvoy makes a splash on the senior Spurs scene in the coming months or years.
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