Jude Soonsup-Bell: “I hope to push myself and score as many goals as I can”
Fri 03 February 2023, 09:30|
Tottenham Hotspur
Jude Soonsup-Bell believes he can hit the ground running after joining our Under-21s from Chelsea this week.
The 19-year-old striker arrives in north London with a healthy amount of Academy experience under his belt already – in addition to playing regularly for the Blues’ Development Squad over the past two years, he also led the line for our London rivals in their UEFA Youth League campaign earlier this season and even made his first team debut as a starter in their Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Brentford in December, 2021.
Having played and scored against our Under-21s already this term, the forward is hoping to make his mark on the pitch and help Wayne Burnett’s team continue their resurgent form in 2023.
“It’s a pleasure to be here, I’m excited to be here and I can’t wait to get started. It means everything to me,” he told SPURSPLAY. “I’ve done my research on Tottenham, their Under-21s – I hope to bring them up the table a bit, to help them finish in a strong position and then also push myself as well.
“It’s a really big thing (to move here) but I will strive to do my best to help the team win more games. On a personal note, I know there’s 10 or 11 games left of the season in the Premier League 2 so I hope to play in most of those games and score as many goals as I can. I’ve spoken to a few people here and they’ve said that they really needed another attacker to score the goals and help them win games, so I hope I can be the player to do that.
“Obviously from my past, I’ve had a lot of experience, a lot of exposure at Chelsea, whether that’s with the first team, in the UEFA Youth League or at tournaments, so I hope to bring that experience to Tottenham. I think it’ll benefit me in a lot of ways – it’ll help me to come into the team better and bond with the team straight away. I learned a lot of things being at Chelsea, so I hope to come to Tottenham and bring all those experiences here.”
Initially with Swindon Town’s Academy, Jude plays mainly as a centre-forward but is versatile enough to operate in other areas of the pitch. He describes himself as “an elegant player” and “a very down-to-earth guy” away from the action, enjoying playing golf and video games in his free time.
What is he looking forward to after joining our Academy?
“I’ve played against Tottenham a lot throughout my career, even back in my Swindon days, and every year I’ve played them, I’ve always looked up to their facilities,” he said. “The facilities are amazing here and I think that’s really going to benefit me as a football player to really get focused and strive to get to where I want to be.
“I know a few of the boys – Alfie Devine, Dane Scarlett who is on loan to Portsmouth at the moment, I know Nile John as well… they’re all boys who I’ve played with through my years of going on international duty with England. I’m sure they’ll help me to settle in well. I’ve played a lot with Alfie and Dane especially – they’re both 2004 players so throughout my time with England I’ve worked with them. They play in similar roles to me, Alfie plays in the midfield role or as the 10 and Dane also operates as a striker, so I’ve played a lot of games with them and I’m really looking forward to us linking up and playing together here. I can’t wait to get started.”
