By Ava-Marianne Elliott (6/3/24).
After her recent phenomenal performance during her debut for the Lionesses, eyes are on twenty-year-old Grace Clinton, who this season particularly has established herself as a force to be reckoned with on the field. Although a senior England debut has been the newest achievement to add to her list of triumphs, her career has seen her rapidly progress through the ranks, jumping from strength to strength.
Currently thriving on loan in North London with mid-table team Tottenham Hotspur, the creative midfielder has spent the season proving just how integral the role she plays is to the side and has evidently grown in confidence with each passing fixture. It has resulted in her talents beginning to be recognised on a greater scale, whilst Clinton continues to shine in the spotlight within both the WSL and on the international stage. Within this article, Impetus 71’s Ava- Marianne Elliott reviews Clinton’s career to date, looking at the already monumental contributions she’s given the game, and the areas where she most thrives.
Early Days
Liverpool-born, Clinton’s early career days trace back to the years she spent breaking through the ranks of Everton’s Academy, where she spent a lot of time sat on the fence of being integrated into the first team. In the preseason ahead of the club’s 2020-2021 campaign, the talented young midfielder was offered the opportunity to train with the first team at the age of just 16-years old. Although she was a player brimming with such unique potential and credited as a hugely creative asset to her team, there were areas of her game that needed refining.
Then manager, Willie Kirk, described Clinton as “a great kid, first of all, but she was a little bit lazy out of possession,” in an interview with BBC Sport in October.
Hard work paid off, as she made her competitive debut for the Toffees on the third of October 2020 in an away win at Aston Villa. Further, in April 2021 she put pen to paper and signed her first professional contract with the club, but she struggled to gain any consistent game time, which is why a move to Manchester United seemed like a relatively unexpected switch for her to make.
Championship Spell
As one door closed for Clinton after moving on from Everton, another opened in Manchester as she took the next step in her career, signing with United in July 2022 on a three-year contract. Manager Marc Skinner kept her training with the club for the first half of the 2022-2023 season in order for her to gain valuable insight and experience training alongside members of United’s team, before she departed for a loan spell in the Championship during the January window.
Clinton’s time at Bristol City was really the first time that she gave onlookers a glance at the amount of talent she held and how much of an asset she could be to a team. In her first appearance for City, she had an instant impact for her team and bagged a late equaliser that helped push the team to secure a narrow 3-2 in the fixture.
During her four-month stint in the Championship, Clinton played an integral role in helping The Robins gain promotion to the WSL for the 2023-2024 season. She additionally contributed a total of six goals and one assist across 12 league appearances. As the season came to a close, it became exceedingly clear that Clinton was more than ready to take the next step in her career.
Tottenham Hotspur
Considering the United team were relatively stacked in terms of midfielders and attacking power at the start of the season, the most beneficial option for Clinton looked like a second loan spell. The decision has worked out well in favour of Robert Vilahamn’s Tottenham Hotspur, as the midfielder has played a crucial role in the mid-table team’s tactical set-up, where she has started to flourish with her recent consistent appearances (1157 minutes across 14 WSL fixtures).
Predominantly playing on the left-wing for Spurs, but also occasionally shifting into the ten role where she most thrives, Clinton is pure dynamite on the field. The midfielder, although not yet the complete product, has the potential to become an all- rounder with her strategic vision, eye for a pass (particularly diagonals), work rate, and defensive actions.
In her starts for Spurs, Clinton has primarily started wide within the most frequently used 4-4-2 formation. This positioning allows her to expertly find those pockets of space on the pitch, commonly in more central areas, and her intelligent movement off the ball means her teammates are never left short on passing options. She also has excellent vision for a pass, especially on the diagonal to generate more space in attacking areas by dragging defenders out of position.
“She’s a number ten, absolutely. In the future, she’s going to start as a number ten in the national team, I’m quite sure of that,” noted boss Vilahamn at the start of Spurs 2023-2024 campaign.
Across the season in its so far entirety, Clinton’s statistics reflect the actions that we are seeing from her on the pitch. Currently, she sits second in the league for most successful take-ons per 90 in the WSL (3.83). Her defensive actions after match week 16 are averaging 76.6% success for tackles (36 won), 8.39 recoveries per 90 (114 total), and winning 52.6% of her duels (131 won).
England Debut of Dreams
With the success she’s seen since the start of this season for Spurs in the WSL, Clinton earned her first call up to the senior England camp in October of 2023 after catching Sarina Wiegman’s attention. The talented midfielder had already represented her country, being a regular in the youth teams from the under 17’s all the way up to the under 23’s squad.
Her first opportunity to see the pitch for her national team at Senior level came in the Lionesses’ recent friendly fixture against Austria, where England secured a triumphant 7-2 win. Her quality shone through when she took to the pitch, and the huge milestone of her debut was made significantly sweeter when she found herself on the scoresheet just 19 minutes into the fixture.
Despite Clinton’s season to date mostly consisting of her operating down that left-hand side, she started in a more unfamiliar central role for England. She went on to start against Italy in the Lionesses second friendly out in Spain, where she continued to demonstrate her well-rounded, versatility, and tactical adaptability. With such a strong start to her international career already in the tank, alongside a very impressive run with Spurs on loan this season, it’s likely it won’t be long before we see Clinton playing more minutes under Wiegman.
“She plays like a natural. She wants to have the ball. She picks up the things we talk about very quickly and that’s what you see on the pitch too.” Wiegman praised Clinton post- match.
With such a positive start to her young career, it’s interesting to consider the options for one of the WSL’s biggest up-and-coming youngsters. The debate between whether she would be more suited to staying with Spurs or returning to Manchester United appears to be an ongoing discussion, but it’s evident that Clinton is ready to face whatever challenge is thrown her way.
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