Tottenham’s ‘smart piece of business’ to sign ‘highly regarded’ Man City starlet

Posted by

In light of the news on Wednesday morning that Tottenham’s director of football Fabio Paratici has had his football ban extended worldwide, the good news that the north Londoners have signed a pre-contractual agreement with a young Man City starlet is likely to go under the radar.

Football.london report that 16-year-old Herbie James, who was also being looked at by Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton, will join Spurs on a three-year contract.

Whilst not the big name that all fans want to hear, James is clearly one for the future. Indeed, the outlet report that it’s a ‘smart piece of business’ by Tottenham for a player ‘highly regarded’ within the game.

Getting in a player at such a young age can surely only be seen as a positive, as a move now offers Tottenham plenty of time to develop the player into what they’ll surely hope is another player that can move from the Academy set up into the first team.

In so doing, they’ve only invested in developmental costs which, in today’s marketplace, is a drop in the ocean if you factor in how much a Premier League-ready striker would cost the club to purchase.

Could it be that the option of buying younger players with a potential value later in their career, rather than looking to acquire established stars, may have been part of the reason why manager, Antonio Conte, decided to leave the club?

It would make sense given that the Italian wanted a team of winners, whereas what he had much of the time was an emerging side rather than the finished article.

More Stories daniel levy Fabio Paratici Herbie James