Zak Sturge is set to join Chelsea amid Tottenham Hotspur interest
According to reports from Nathan Gissing (h/t Daily Mail), Tottenham Hotspur have lost out to Chelsea in the race to sign young left-back Zak Sturge from Premier League rivals Brighton & Hove Albion.
Sturge, a product of the Brighton & Hove Albion junior system, made his Under-18 debut for the team in 2020 and quickly established himself as a regular, making 41 appearances and contributing five assists.
The 16-year-old defender has already played three games for the Seagulls’ Under-23 squad. Sturge has additionally made three appearances for the England Under-18 national team.
Young and gifted defender Sturge is highly regarded among the team. The 18-year-old, however, has resisted signing a new deal with Brighton, attracting the attention of numerous Premier League teams, including Chelsea, Leeds United, and Tottenham Hotspur.
However, the Blues has emerged as the favourite to sign Sturge, defeating Tottenham Hotspur, who expressed interest in the 18-year-old despite having Ryan Sessegnon and Ivan Perisic as left wingback options.
Antonio Conte has been very active in the summer window, completing the signings of Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma, Fraser Forster, Djed Spence and Richarlison. Now they are targeting a young talent who seems to be an investment for the future.
The promising full-back could possibly play for Spurs in the future. Given that Ben Davies is already 29 years old, Conte might help such a youthful and talented defender to step up and prepare tot ake on the mantle.
Conte might, in an extremely improbable event, decide to keep Sturge on the senior Tottenham team as opposed to assigning him to the youth league. However, that is no longer a concern given his impending switch to Chelsea.
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Considering Sturge is a player for the future and Brighton will be due a minimum of £500,000 in compensation, it would be better if we use that money for senior acquisitions as the Italian is doing everything to make the team competitive. We also have very talented individuals in our youth ranks and they might do well in the future.
