'Humble' Tottenham midfielder tipped for bright future and set challenge before Portsmouth departure

The highly-regarded teenage midfielder arrived at Fratton Park on loan from Tottenham during the January transfer window.

It represented White's first real opportunity to play senior football, having made two first-team appearances for Spurs since coming through the youth ranks.

White's scored one goal in 19 outings for the Blues and caught the eye off the bench in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Bristol Rovers.

The England youth international's made a bright impression on Cowley since he succeeded Kenny Jackett as boss last month.

And as White's time on the south coast nears its conclusion, Cowley wants the cultured left-footer to get to grips with the 'combatitive nature' of the third tier before heading back to north London.

The Blues head coach said: ‘Harvey is going to be a good player and got real maturity beyond his years.

‘He's a really intelligent footballer. He watches loads of football, understands it and gets it.

‘You only have to tell him an instruction once. He's like a sponge and you'll tell him something once and then he'll be doing it. He's so easy to coach, a coach's dream.

‘He's got a great attitude, good pitch coverage now we're trying to get him used to the combatitive nature of the transitional game in League One he's probably not used to in development football.

‘He's got a lovely left foot, a nice range of passing and lovely receiving skills. We're really enjoying working with him.’

White's been at Tottenham since he was a child and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and World Cup winner Hugo Lloris regularly in training.

However, there's never been any sort of snobbery from the Kent-born ace since dropping down to League One.

In fact, his outlook has been starkly contrasting.

Cowley added: ‘I call it Category One Academyitis when they've been pampered all their lives and have no touch of reality. They’re not for me those ones.

‘But Harvey is the absolute opposite and he's so grounded. He's had John McDermott (Spurs’ former head of academy coaching and player development) looking after him for so many years, Ryan Mason (currently interim Spurs boss) and guys like that.

‘I'm not surprised he's grounded and is an incredibily humble boy.’