Jamie Donley has shed light on the conversations he had with Roberto De Zerbi at Tottenham ahead of his loan move to Luton Town in the summer.Donley is one of 17 Spurs players out on loan at the moment, and the midfielder is looking to bounce back after a difficult 2025-26 season.The youngster struggled for game time in the first half of last season at Stoke City, forcing Tottenham to end the loan in January and send him to Oxford Town, where he only managed one goal across 13 games.Donley has made a bright start to his spell at Luton, already having a goal and an assist in five appearances, and he will be hoping to build on that and have a strong campaign.Credit: @thatfootballphotog / InstagramJamie Donley admits it is difficult to compete with £100m signings at TottenhamThe 21-year-old got a lot of minutes in pre-season, impressing during the club’s summer tour of Australia and New Zealand.Donley shared that De Zerbi told him that he liked him as a player, but confessed he was ‘pushed out’ following the investment Spurs made in their midfield department.The midfielder said (via Football.London): “When I came in for pre-season I spoke to [De Zerbi] a little bit and he said that he liked me, and I went out to Australia and played quite a lot.“Then a few of the lads came back from the World Cup and so then I was kind of pushed away a little bit. Towards the end of the window, I had a clear idea of what I was going to be doing.“It’s difficult because there’s so many players and they’re signing £100million players. I’m not arrogant enough to think I’m going to be playing over them.“They don’t really give you a pathway. It’s about getting minutes. I’m still young so it’s about doing well and going back next year and showing progress.”Donley is enjoying playing as a striker for Northern IrelandAlthough he is a number 10 by trade, the youngster has been used as the number nine for Northern Ireland, and has made an impressive start to his international career.The Tottenham loanee has already scored twice for his country, and admits that he is relishing the challenge of leading the line.When asked about his international career, Donley said: “[The manager, Michael O’Neill] gives me a lot of confidence. He has trust in me. Obviously I’m playing striker, which is not a natural position for me, but I’ve got a couple of goals and (in this window) I’d like to think I could score a couple more.“[O’Neill] speaks to me about what he wants and I guess it’s not that much different to playing as a number 10. Obviously you’re the highest player, so you’re always going to have your back to goal, but I think I link up quite well and hopefully if I get some chances I can put them away. I think even as a number 10 I’d have myself as a really good finisher. If it’s a good chance I like to think I can put it away.”READ MORE: Tottenham’s Gianluca Prestianni interest is supported by data, but he has a controversial pastThe post Tottenham starlet admits he was 'pushed away' by De Zerbi after £185m spending spree appeared first on Spurs Web.