Assessing Tottenham Hotspur's Loan Players for 2015-16 Season

Tottenham's academy has taken a prodigious turn in recent seasons with Harry Kane, Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb and Danny Rose among players to have graduated to the first team. 

Part of the reason for that success has been Spurs' use of the loan system to help develop their players. 

Seven members of the current first-team squad have enjoyed a loan spell at some time in their Spurs careers. 

This strategy has the secondary effect of giving those players unlikely to make the grade at Tottenham a chance to attract interest from other clubs. 

In the past, Tottenham have almost rivalled Chelsea with the number of players they've sent out on loan. 

So far in the 2015-16 season, only six players have been sent out on loan. 

The loan window doesn't close until 25 November, which means there is still plenty of time for Spurs to find willing takers for other members of their development squad/youth team. 

DeAndre Yedlin is the only senior player to have been sent out for now, joining Sunderland until the end of the season. 

Yedlin needs games to develop and acclimatise to English football, and his time on Wearside will be watched keenly by both Tottenham and United States fans. 

His star has risen sharply in the last 18 months, but Yedlin now faces a real challenge to live up to the hype. 

Shaq Coulthirst's loan with Wigan has something of a last-chance feel about it. Despite his youth—he's still just 20—Coulthirst has been around for years and has yet to make much of an impact. 

Last season he spent time with League Two sides Southend and York City and largely underwhelmed. 

Moving up to League One with Wigan will be testing. 

Skillful, strong and a decent finisher, Coulthirst needs to play and prove himself, or he will certainly be sold. 

Connor Ogilvie is one whom the club have earmarked for the future. 

Speaking after scoring his first senior goal for loan side Stevenage against Plymouth, Ogilvie revealed that the Spurs are watching him closely and providing regular feedback. 

Ogilvie is likely some distance from Tottenham's first team, but his time in League Two will do him the power of good. 

Grant Ward has moved gradually up from MLS to League One Coventry City in recent seasons and has now joined Championship side Rotherham. 

A modestly talented player, Ward may yet develop into a legitimate first-team prospect but seems destined for somewhere a little further down the pecking order than Spurs. 

The last of Tottenham's loanees this season are Rangers duo Dom Ball and Nathan Oduwa. 

Julian Finney/Getty Images

That Rangers failed to seal their return to the Scottish Premier League last season surely rankles among their supporters, but that mishap has blessed the Tottenham pair with a wonderful opportunity. 

They will play in front of over 50,000 of the loudest and most passionate supporters in Europe. Once they return to Spurs, big Premier League or European fixtures will hold no fear. 

Ball himself admitted as much after signing with the Scottish giants, "size-wise they are bigger than most of the Premier League teams."

Fleet-footed winger Oduwa made headlines with a sensational performance in The Gers' 5-0 thrashing of Raith Rovers at the weekend, per the Record's Euan McLean

The flicks, tricks and sensational skills shown by Oduwa reinforced the belief that he is bound for the top. 

He is the star man six games into Rangers' promotion push. 

Teammate Lee Wallace is confident that Oduwa has what it takes to make it to the top, saying "he’s going to improve and go back to Spurs pushing for a first-team spot," per McLean.

Ball is a central defender who naturally makes fewer headlines but is also highly regarded at Tottenham. 

Comfortable in possession, Ball has occasionally played through midfield at youth level while also deputising at right-back during his Cambridge United loan last term. 

An English youth international, Ball is physically developed beyond his years but desperately needs time in the professional game to sharpen his skills. 

Spurs have played the loan market better than most clubs in recent seasons. 

It has allowed them to polish their finest young players while helping to turn maximum profits on the lesser lights. 

This season they have made similarly shrewd moves. 

Coulthirst and Ward are unlikely to make it to Tottenham's first team, while there are higher hopes for Oduwa and Ball.

Yedlin is a special case—he has played so little football at senior level that it is difficult to predict where his future lies. His time with Sunderland will elucidate things significantly.