Exciting 'New Ronaldinho' shows Tottenham Hotspur the future

Tottenham Hotspur youngster Cristian Ceballos hit an impressive hattrick for the club's under-21 side yesterday. Should fans be getting excited?

It's international week, so this one may have flown slightly under the radar for many, but Tottenham's under-21 side played yesterday; beating their Southampton counterparts 4-2.

The star of the show was the exciting Spanish youngster Cristian Ceballos, who ripped the Saints defence apart by scoring a hattrick.

Who is he and what can we tell you about him?

Here are five facts...

1) Ceballos signed from Barcelona in the summer of 2011 at just 18, where he had been since the age of 11.

2) He scored on his Spurs debut, twice, in a dramatic 5-4 win over Kettering, in which Iago Falque also made his debut and bagged two goals.

3) He is a winger who can play across the attack, including up front as a striker. His ball skills at Barcelona saw him dubbed 'the new Ronaldinho'.

4) Prior to yesterday's game, he had two goals in four games for the under-21s this season, so now he is up to five in five.

5) The 19-year-old has been involved with the first team squad once; last year's third round League Cup defeat to Stoke City, where he was an unused substitute.

You can watch him in action here showing off his trickery as a young teenager...

And then in front of Ronaldinho himself...

Admittedly it is difficult to translate those videos into the 19-year-old Tottenham have on their hands today, but his hattrick yesterday confirms he remains a dynamic prospect who could start beating down the path to the first team if he continues his form.

Dan Coombs

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Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.

As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.

He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.