Wigan Athletic are in line for a sizeable cash boost after academy product Alfie Devine joined Preston North End from Tottenham Hotspur in a multi-million pound deal.
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The 21-year-old midfielder, who hails from Warrington, is understood to have cost Preston a club-record fee in the region of £6million.
It follows a successful loan spell last season, when he scored eight goals in 48 appearances for the Lilywhites.
Devine came through the ranks at Wigan but was sold to Spurs in the summer of 2020 - at the age of 15 - shortly after Latics were placed into administration by the owners at the time.
Latics received a fee of around £300,000, and inserted a sell-on clause of around five per cent of any profit Spurs would receive in the future.
That figure is below the sell-on figures Latics have inserted in deals before and after this time, which has seen them receive several hundreds of thousands of pounds - most notably in the sale of Dan Burn to Brighton & Hove Albion in 2018.
However, transfer negotiations at the time were handled by the administrators and 'football experts' they drafted in, which explains the reduced figure.
This was despite Jonathan Jackson – the club’s chief executive at the time, before he was made redundant – offering to conduct negotiations for free to help the club.
Nevertheless, with Spurs making a profit of around £5.7million, Latics should be in line to receive a sum in the region of £285,000.
Ironically, Devine's purchase eclipses the sum Preston paid Portsmouth for Callum Lang - another Latics academy product - in January of this year.
Latics also received a tidy sell-on from that deal, following his move to the south coast exactly two years earlier.
After putting pen to paper, Devine said: “From the end of last season going into the summer, it was always a priority in terms of where I wanted to be. It took its time, but I'm delighted it's gone through.
“From the first minute I came here until my last minute of last season, I absolutely loved it. The fans, staff, players, everyone around the place made me feel so welcome.”
Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom said: “I’m really pleased to get it over the line.
“A lot of people have worked hard at it, and Alfie made no secret of the fact that he enjoyed his time here and wanted to play here.
“We think that it's good business, not only in the short term and helping us get results on the pitch, but it's also really good business for the football club as well.”
North End CEO Peter Ridsdale said: “I would like to go on record to thank the Hemmings' family for the unbelievable financial commitment in allowing us to get this deal over the line, in addition to the investment in the new hybrid Deso pitch at Deepdale.
"I would also like to thank Tottenham Hotspur for the way in which they have handled this transfer. It has been a pleasure working with everyone connected with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club."