Grealish was an Aston Villa player when he was loaned to Notts, and six years after his spell at Meadow Lane, he was sold for £100m to Manchester City – a club where he has won seven major honours, including the Champions League.

As for Yates, his time in League Two with Notts is part of a remarkable career that has seen him play in all of England’s top five leagues.

Abbott, who was already captain of Tottenham’s Under-21 team when he moved to Notts, sees the loan move to the East Midlands as “the best way forward” for his young career.

At Notts, he is part of a side that is third in the table and among the favorites to push for promotion.

“It’s a building block of where I want to get to,” he said.

“Even if you go down the leagues, you also get used to men’s football and the physicality of it.”

Notts head coach Stuart Maynard says Abbott, whose previous senior football experience consisted of a solitary first-team appearance for Spurs in the Premier League, has the “tools” needed to go on to establish a career in the top flight.

“George is so athletic, but he has football intelligence as well — he has a little bit of everything,” Maynard said.

“He has a very bright future ahead of him if he continues in the way he is doing now.”