Tottenham Hotspur have made a unique move, which shows just how highly they value one of their 18-year-old academy starlets.Spurs have several youngsters out on loan across the EFL and a few dotted around Europe, and many are impressing at the start of the new season.There is also excitement at Hotspur Way about the talent in the Under-18 age group, with many already showing they can be future first-team prospects.The biggest of those talents is undoubtedly 17-year-old Luca Williams-Barnett, who continues to deliver outstanding performances for Spurs U21s, and is knocking on the first-team door.However, another 18-year-old defender in the club’s academy appears to be just as highly rated.Photo by Steve Christo – Corbis/Corbis via Getty ImagesNew Tottenham contract for Tyler Tingey is a clear statementCentre-back Tyler Tingey only signed his first professional contract with the North London club back in April.However, the teenage defender, who currently captains Tottenham’s U18s, was awarded another new contract earlier this month, just five months after his previous deal.Spurs insider John Wenham, who regularly breaks news on the club’s youth sides, has explained that this is an unusual development, which shows just how highly Tingey is rated at Hotspur Way.Wenham told Tottenham News: “Tyler Tingey, interestingly, signed a professional deal only in April of this year, and then signed another deal about a week ago.“Tottenham rate him extremely highly to keep rewarding him with new contracts, incentivised with higher salary, longer contract length, et cetera. Two contracts in the space of five months is quite unheard of, it shows how highly they think of him.”Tingey’s profile and his youth career at Spurs so farBorn in Burton upon Trent but brought up in Waltham Abbey, Tingey has been in the Spurs academy since the age of 10.Although a central defender by trade, the youngster is very comfortable on the ball and has also featured as a defensive midfielder for the club’s youth sides.Tingey was part of the side that won the Under-17 Premier League Cup in the 2024-25 season, and he has played 32 times for Spurs’ U18s, scoring one goal.Tottenham handing him back-to-back new contracts could hint that the academy coaches expect him to be the next player to follow the likes of Mikey Moore into the first-team set-up.READ MORE: What happened to Etienne Capoue after Tottenham? From the Bale 7 to living his NBA dreamThe post Tottenham’s ‘unusual’ contract decision may hint at the club’s next Mikey Moore appeared first on Spurs Web.