Teenager reveals why he rejected Tottenham after undergoing trial at Hotspur Way

Scottish midfielder, Callum Flatman has admitted that he decided against signing for Tottenham Hotspur despite having a trial at the North London club.

The 16-year-old has since signed a three-year contract at Hearts and will be hoping to break into their first-team this campaign.

The Riccarton academy graduate admitted that he went down to have a trial at Spurs as he wanted to compare himself with the best players within his age group.

However, he admitted that he decided to instead commit his future to Hearts since he felt he had a better chance of breaking into the first-team at Tynecastle Park.

The youngster told Edinburgh Evening News: “I went down for a week’s trial at Spurs.

“It was just to see what it was like down in England, get a bit more experience and see what I could learn.

“I wanted to see if I liked it and compare myself to the other boys. England is meant to be the best league in the world with all the best players.

“I went down and tried it but I decided on Hearts. I think this is a better club for me to progress. There is more likelihood of me getting into the first team here.”

The midfielder admitted that his family were hoping for him to sign with the Lilywhites but revealed that it was a lack of a direct pathway to the first-team that put him off from joining the Spurs academy.

Flatman added: “I’ve signed a professional contract here but in England, you don’t get that until you’re 18. You need to go on a scholarship, then go through under-23s, which is a long age-group when you step up from under-18s.

“Only after that can you look at the first team, or possibly a loan. I thought if I stayed here I could push myself. Hopefully, I can break into the first team because I’ve already played for the reserves.

“I think everyone in my family was kind of rooting for England because it was a bigger club but then we all realised it’s not all about moving early.

“Everyone is really happy that I spoke to Robbie Neilson and everything was good to come back. My family are proud that I’ve got a contract here, but also proud that I went down and experienced England, stayed in digs, things like that.”

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know