Tottenham win transfer race for 19-year-old attacker, agree to pay six-figure sum

Tottenham Hotspur beat Brighton to reach agreement with Lewes for Ollie Tanner

According to Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur have beaten Brighton and Hove Albion to reach an agreement with Lewes for the services of Ollie Tanner in the January transfer window. He has been playing in the semi-professional Isthmian League Premier Division.

The transfer is not fully completed as Tottenham are still in negotiations with Tanner to find common ground over a move. The youngster is still assessing his options before choosing his next destination, but he has been training with the Development Squad at N17 for the past fortnight.

Several other Premier League and Championship clubs were also in the fray to get the 19-year-old’s signature but Spurs have agreed to pay £100,000 for his services. The agreement also includes a sell-on clause between 10 and 20 per cent for the semi-professional club.

Brighton and Hove Albion saw their offer refuted, which would have allowed the starlet to remain in the ILP Division for the remainder of the season. It remains to be seen if the North London club can find an agreement with the player in the coming days before the transfer window shuts.

Who is Ollie Tanner?

The Lewes ace primarily plays as a left-winger but he can also feature on the other side of the pitch. Moreover, he can also play as an attacking midfielder, which goes to show the versatility that he possesses in his game.

Antonio Conte’s side needs additions in their U23 squad following the departure of Dilan Markanday. The teenager could be a fine prospect even if there are concerns about whether this move would be too much of a jump for him.

The forward impressed our youth coaches with his displays during the tryouts recently. Moreover, he was recommended to us by Lewes manager Tony Russell, which prompted academy chief Chris Powell to assess the player.

The youngster had picked up an injury in the recent game against Cray Wanderers, so it remains to be seen if that could create complications moving forward. As for us, it is not a bad idea to keep quality youngsters coming into the squad in order to future-proof our team.

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Tanner interestingly came through the academy at Arsenal before Bromley snapped him up. He only moved to Lewes last year but it seems like he has made quite an impression in that short spell.

The teenager would certainly be an unknown quantity to many but the finances involved make this a rather safe deal to conduct. There is little room for us to regret our move in the future and in the best-case scenario, we would get ourselves a talented first-team winger in the long term.