Manchester City agree deal to sign talented Tottenham teenager, described as ‘key signing’

Tottenham Hotspur are on the verge of losing one of their young gems, with Manchester City reported to have agreed a deal to sign the Spurs academy starlet.

While Thomas Frank is still putting his imprint on the Tottenham squad he inherited from Ange Postecoglou, the Dane might not necessarily need to dip into the market to address some weaknesses.

Instead, he has the luxury of turning to some highly-rated youngsters from the Spurs academy, with many at Hotspur Way excited about the talent that is now in the pipeline.

The likes of Mikey Moore and Will Lanskhear, who already made their mark in the first-team last season, and many fans will be eager to see if any of Jamie Donley, Alfie Devine, George Abbott, Josh Keeley, Ashley Phillips and Luka Vuskovic can make the step up this season.

However, Frank will not have the opportunity to work with a talented 16-year-old midfielder who is now on the cusp of swapping Tottenham for Manchester City.

Manchester City agree a deal to sign Tottenham’s Dexter Oliver

The player in question is 16-year-old Dexter Oliver, who made nine appearances for Tottenham Hotspur’s Under-18s last season, registering two assists.

It emerged back in May that Manchester United and Man City were both plotting a move for Oliver, having been impressed by his performances in youth football.

Fabrizio Romano has now taken to social media to report that City have reached an agreement to land the attacking midfielder.

The journalist revealed that the formalities of the transfer are expected to be completed in the next two days, with City viewing Oliver as a ‘key’ addition to their academy.

Spurs have to be wary of having their academy gems poached

Since Johan Lange arrived as Tottenham’s technical director two years ago, the North London club have prioritised adding the best young talent to their academy set-up.

While one can applaud the long-term vision of Spurs, that would be of little use if the best talents are poached by other clubs before they break into the senior side.

There needs to be a clear pathway from the academy to the first-team for these youngsters to stick around, which was the case under Ange Postecoglou.

One would think that Frank will also not be scared of promoting youth players, given his track record of developing youngsters at Brentford.

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