Football Insider have revealed that Tottenham Hotspur tried to lure forward Caleb Chukwuemeka to the club this summer before being beaten to the youngster’s signature by Aston Villa.
Chukwuemeka broke into Northampton Town’s first-team last season and went on to make 22 appearances in League One last season.
Although the centre-forward only found the back of the net once, his performances had reportedly caught the attention of Spurs, Villa and Newcastle during the summer transfer window.
It was eventually Villa who won the race for the 19-year-old midway through last month and, according to Football Insider, the news came as a big blow to Spurs, whose recruitment advisors had given a glowing review of the youngster.
The report explains that the Lilywhites were willing to pay a guaranteed sum rising to £1m with add-ons for Chukwuemeka.
Tottenham also allegedly thought they held had a key negotiating advantage in the race for the young forward as they offered their own teenage striker Kion Etete on loan to Northampton to sweeten the deal.
While Etete did complete a loan move to the League Two club, Spurs ultimately failed to strike a deal for Chukwuemeka.
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It is asserted that the lucrative professional contract from Villa turned out to be too tempting for the youngster to resist.
Spurs Web Opinion
Given that we have two of the most promising young strikers in our academy in Dane Scarlett and Troy Parrott, I am not sure why we were so desperate to land Chukwuemeka.
I was expecting Scarlett to be loaned out this summer but it looks like Nuno and his coaching staff want to take a closer look at the striker.
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