Dane Scarlett heads to Hibernian on loan as Spurs seek minutes for young striker
Dane Scarlett will spend the rest of the 2025-26 season in Scotland after Tottenham Hotspur confirmed on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, that the 21-year-old striker has joined Hibernian on loan. The move gives Scarlett a clearer runway for regular first-team football after a season spent largely around Spurs’ matchday squads, and it hands Hibs another attacking option as they try to push on in the Scottish Premiership run-in.
Scarlett’s switch lands late in the winter window, when clubs tend to prioritize immediate availability and fit. For Tottenham, it’s a development decision. For Hibernian, it’s a short-term scoring and depth play with upside if the loan clicks quickly.
Dane Scarlett joins Hibernian on loan
Tottenham’s announcement said the deal runs until the end of the 2025-26 campaign. Scarlett had made five senior appearances for Spurs this season, most recently off the bench in a UEFA Champions League win away at Eintracht Frankfurt earlier this week, but he has not been a regular starter.
Hibernian framed the deal as their third addition of the January window, a sign the Edinburgh club wanted late reinforcement rather than simply standing pat for the second half of the season. The loan does not require a lengthy bedding-in period: Scarlett arrives match-fit enough to contribute soon, even if he needs time to adjust to the league’s physicality and the new patterns of play around him.
Why Spurs chose a loan now
Scarlett’s situation at Tottenham has been a familiar one for top-club academy forwards: good enough to be kept close, not yet getting consistent league minutes. He has been in and around the first team for years, debuting as a teenager and becoming Tottenham’s youngest-ever player in 2020.
The timing also reflects squad realities. Tottenham’s forward roles are often crowded, and short substitute appearances can be a frustrating development environment for a striker who needs repetition—starts, sequences of games, and the pressure of delivering goals rather than simply seeing out minutes.
A loan to the Scottish Premiership offers a different kind of test. Matches can be intense, transitional, and aerially demanding. For a young No. 9, that can accelerate learning: protecting the ball under contact, attacking second balls, and making box movements when space is limited.
What Hibs are getting in Scarlett
Scarlett is a centre-forward who has been viewed internally as a high-ceiling finisher since his early teen years. At 21, he is no longer at the “promising cameo” stage; this is a stretch of the season where he can build a resume of full matches—how he handles being the focal point, how he reacts after a miss, and how quickly he adapts to a new dressing room.
He also arrives with loan experience. Scarlett has previously spent time in the English Football League with Portsmouth, Ipswich Town, and Oxford United. Those spells have exposed him to different playing styles and expectations, even if none have yet produced the sort of headline goal run that permanently changes a striker’s trajectory.
For Hibs, the hope is that a player accustomed to elite training environments can sharpen their attacking edge—whether as a starter or a high-impact option who changes games late.
What this means for both clubs next
For Tottenham, the success metric is simple: minutes and meaningful contribution. If Scarlett logs consistent starts, stays healthy, and adds goals or assists, the loan will look like a clean win—even if Spurs don’t directly benefit until next season. If he struggles to break into the XI, it becomes another reminder of how hard the final step is for a striker coming through at a Champions League club.
For Hibernian, the calculus is immediate. A midseason loan is about output now: points on the table, more threat in the box, and an option who can stretch defenses. Even if Scarlett’s finishing comes in waves—as it often does for young forwards—his movement and energy can still raise the baseline of an attack.
The pressure point: adapting fast in Edinburgh
The risk in any late-window loan is time. Scarlett doesn’t get a long preseason to learn teammates’ tendencies, and the second half of the campaign rarely provides “easy” fixtures. He will be judged quickly—by supporters, by the coaching staff, and by himself.
But the upside is just as clear. A striker’s development can change rapidly with one run of starts, one decisive goal, one stretch where the game slows down. Hibs are giving Scarlett a stage where he can try to force that breakthrough, and Spurs are betting that the best way to unlock the next level is to put him somewhere he has to carry responsibility.
Sources consulted: Tottenham Hotspur (official club statement); STV News; Transfermarkt; Wikipedia.
