In a huge blow, Tottenham Hotspur have lost a highly-rated academy winger to their North London rivals Arsenal.
Tottenham have been busy adding to their first team this summer ahead of Roberto De Zerbi’s first season in charge, and they are also simultaneously looking to add some top young talent to their academy this summer.
The Lilywhites secured the services of the highly rated Cole Ramsey last week following his exit from Aston Villa.
Additionally, Tottenham are pushing ahead with a move for Wolves prospect Kwasi Senyah, while sources indicate that Spurs are also looking to secure 16-year-old Man City starlet Xavier Parker.
However, the Lilywhites have now seen their own academy being raided by their rivals.
Elijah Upson leaves Tottenham’s academy to sign for Arsenal
It first emerged a few weeks ago that Arsenal had stepped up their pursuit of a Spurs academy defender, Elijah Upson, who is the son of the former Gunners and West Ham centre-back, Mathew Upson.
The Daily Mail’s Simon Jones has now taken to social media to confirm that the 18-year-old defender has indeed chosen to join Tottenham’s North London rivals.
Jones revealed that Mikey Arteta’s side beat out Chelsea, Manchester City, and Everton, as well as several European clubs for the player’s signature.
The journalist wrote on X: “Elijah Upson has chosen to join Arsenal after leaving Spurs. The 18-year-old son of former England defender Matthew had offers from Chelsea, Manchester City, Everton, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Leverkusen and Monaco.”
Spurs fail with efforts to poach Arsenal academy winger
Reports were doing the rounds last week that Spurs had won the race for 18-year-old Kyran Thompson after he departed Arsenal’s academy earlier this summer.
However, the teenage winger was subsequently spotted at Newcastle Internaitonal Airport a few days ago, and it emerged that Tottenham had been surprised by rumours that Thompson was set to join Newcastle.
It has now been confirmed that Spurs have missed out on the winger, with Fabrizio Romano giving his ‘here we go’ to the teenager’s move to the Magpies.