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Preston North End have signed Alfie Devine from Tottenham in a deal worth around £6million

Alfie Devine has posted an emotional goodbye message on social media after his exit from Tottenham Hotspur was confirmed.

The 21-year-old has joined Preston North End in a permanent deal after the midfielder enjoyed a successful loan spell with the Championship side last season. As part of that loan deal, Preston agreed an option with Tottenham to buy the England U20 star in a deal worth around £6million.

That figure is more than twice their transfer record but the youngster impressed so much that the Lancashire club, who finished 14th in the Championship last season, were said by the local Preston media to have triggered the option with payments in instalments.

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Devine's exit from Spurs was confirmed on Tuesday and the midfielder, who had just 12 months left on his contract at the Lilywhites, has taken to social media to post a goodbye message.

The player wrote: "My time at this club has come to an end after 6 years of memories, experience and learning. Huge thanks to everyone involved with my time here and something I’ll cherish forever, thank you."

Devine is Tottenham's youngest ever goalscorer after his FA Cup strike in 2021 as a 16-year-old against Marine, but two appearances in that competition are the only occasions in which he has pulled on a Spurs shirt in senior competitive matches.

He will now ply his trade in the Championship with Preston, where he contributed eight goals and eight assists in 48 appearances last season. When asked what he wants to achieve at Preston upon completing the move, he said: "Big things.

“I think that's one of the things that I want as a player and I'm sure everyone wants as a player. You want to go on, win things, get promotion and I think that this is a perfect club to go and do that.

“That's why I decided to come back. I feel like there's a real good feeling about the place. We showed last year what we're capable of doing and that's one of the reasons why I've come back here, because I feel like we can hopefully do that all the way throughout the season and achieve something good.”

The Tottenham starlet has been told to stay at the north London club by a compatriot who has plenty of experience in the area

Lucas Bergvall should remain at Tottenham and not complain about his situation, believes former Arsenal and Sweden star Anders Limpar.

The 20-year-old midfielder informed Spurs that he wanted a fresh challenge this summer as minutes look hard to come by for him this coming season under Roberto De Zerbi. That's because the north London club have spent £185million on Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali to bolster their midfield.

Tottenham are not looking to sell Bergvall this summer and believe he will get minutes this season, but that has not stopped interest from numerous clubs, with Nottingham Forest among the Swede's suitors after his World Cup exploits. The young midfielder has played 78 games for the Premier League club across his first two seasons in N17 after Tottenham saw off Barcelona to sign him in 2024.

Limpar, who came through the academy of Brommapojkarna like the Spurs youngster, does not like the way the midfielder has gone about things despite his own leanings after four years spent across north London at the Gunners.

"First of all, I don't like when a player who's struggling with his team, and a new manager comes in, the player straight away complains and wants to leave. I don't like that because you have to work yourself back into the team and not just say in the press that I want to leave. I don't like that," the 60-year-old told Rekatochklart.

"Lucas Bergvall is a very, very good player. You can see he has a big heart as well. He doesn't let the team down. He was one of the guys who worked [against France] all the way until he got subbed.

"I don't like that he wants to leave. It's better for the Swedes to stay at Tottenham and make them great again. That's a bigger value for me."

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Limpar added: "He can probably choose from three or four clubs now, if he stays in the Premier League. We'll have to wait and see but yet again, he can play for a good side. Lot of talk about him going to Liverpool.

"It's too easy to say 'I want to leave'. When a player's on the bench, it's always the manager's fault, the crowd's fault. You have to look at yourself and dig in. I don't like players who just suddenly find everything wrong with the club and want to leave, rather than putting their fist to their hand, working hard and talking to the manager to understand where they can improve. I would have liked to see that here.

"He's at a time and place in his career where he should stay humble towards his club, but if it goes that way that he's swapping clubs, then all the best to Lucas. He's in my heart. He's like Benjamin Nygren who plays with heart. He's not a player who hides himself when the result is not going his way. He wants to do something on the pitch. I like him a lot."

Tottenham Hotspur have announced the departure of Alfie Devine who has joined Preston North End on a permanent deal

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the departure of midfielder Alfie Devine on a permanent deal. Spurs have announced that the 21-year-old has completed a move to Preston North End, seeing his time in north London officially come to an end.

Devine spent last season on loan at Preston, during which time he made 48 appearances for the Championship club across all competitions.

It was thanks to those appearances that Devine earned the Young Player of the Year award at Preston, and he has now completed a move to Deepdale on a permanent basis.

Preston had the option of signing Devine on a permanent transfer following the conclusion of his loan spell, with the Lilywhites now exercising that option and have officially signed the Spurs midfielder.

As reported by football.london earlier on Tuesday, Devine was set to undergo a medical to leave Tottenham on a permanent basis, with the green light given to the move with the midfielder having just 12 months remaining on his contract.

Devine scored eight goals during his loan spell at Preston and has now expressed his delight at making his move to Deepdale permanent, admitting that a departure from Spurs was often on his mind.

“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,” Devine told Preston’s club website.

“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.”

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Preston also confirmed that the move for Devine represents a club-record fee for the Championship outfit, with the midfielder putting pen to paper on a five-year deal.

Devine was managed by Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom, and the Lilywhites manager has outlined why he was keen to bring the now-former Tottenham star back to Deepdale.

“I’m really pleased to get it over the line,” Heckingbottom said.

“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.”

Cristian Romero was a key player for Argentina in their dramatic 3-2 win over Egypt in the last-16 of the World Cup, with the Tottenham Hotspur defender on the score sheet

Manchester United legend Roy Keane was quick to deliver praise to Tottenham Hotspur defender Cristian Romero after his goal for Argentina at the World Cup.

Argentina overturned a two-goal deficit late in the second period to claim a 3-2 triumph over Egypt in the last-16 encounter at the World Cup, with Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez finding the back of the net.

Romero featured in the backline alongside Lisandro Martinez for Argentina and was instrumental in keeping his nation's aspirations of retaining their title alive.

Keane was joined by Gary Neville in the ITV studio, offering his praise for Romero following the Tottenham defender's goal against Egypt.

"It's his movement,” Keane said. “It's obviously a brilliant delivery. His movement is like a striker, he just peels off the back of the defender.

“Yes, it's poor defending, they're trying to hold a high line. But his movement and his timing is like a top-class striker. Absolutely fantastic. We go back to that desire to try and get back in the game."

Neville also referenced the performances of both Romero and Martinez as he praised the mentality the Argentina players have to be able to recover from a two-goal deficit in Atlanta.

"You watch [Cristian] Romero and [Lisandro] Martinez, and they're the best 'worst centre-halves' in the world,” Neville remarked during ITV’s post-match coverage.

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“You watch them, they give goals away constantly. But they don't care about giving goals away because they'll score goals at the other end. They have massive personalities and they keep going.

"Look, at that point in the game, you think Argentina are hanging on for dear life. They're fighting for their lives and Romero is part of that comeback, you know what I mean? Why is he there?

“You always ask the questions: 'why is Martinez scoring in the last game? Why is Romero scoring there?' Because they don't give in and they fight, and they fight, and they fight."

The summer transfer window has been an exciting time so far for the north London club's supporters but work on exits has also been important

Tottenham are in uncharted territory this summer with £237million already spent but also in the way they have been going about their sales.

The Spurs fans are in dreamland after witnessing their club smash their transfer record twice, first for the £85million deal for Mateus Fernandes from West Ham and then to capture their first £100million footballer in Sandro Tonali from Newcastle. That came after spending £52million on centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton and securing three free transfers in Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

More signings are expected but with that influx of six players, Roberto De Zerbi's squad must be trimmed for a season with no European football to share the minutes around.

Tottenham have made it clear that there will be a new policy with exits at the club and that has started to come into effect this year with players sold for better value and at the right time. In previous years Spurs have made some big money purchases for stars who never hit the heights and were then either sold for a nominal fee such as Giovani Lo Celso or left the club for nothing, like Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon and this summer Yves Bissouma.

The new way of operating was witnessed first in January when the north London outfit agreed to sell the previous season's top scorer Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace in a £35million deal. Spurs did make a loss on the player, having signed him for £47.5million in 2023 but that sale became the fourth highest in their history.

The three sales that brought in more money were Kyle Walker, Gareth Bale and the most painful of them all for Tottenham fans, Harry Kane.

Already, Spurs will surpass that this summer as they look to tie up four exits to kick off proceedings for around £86million, not including sell-on fees.

The biggest deal is the one for Luka Vuskovic. The 19-year-old will depart N17 without having played a single competitive match for Tottenham and he will do so for £46million up front and another £4million in what are seen to be very achievable add-ons, plus a 20% sell-on clause on any profit made on the player as well as matching rights for future bids.

The Croatian was told that he was not in De Zerbi's immediate plans and did not want to head out on his fourth loan in as many years. Brighton pushed for the player and met Tottenham's asking price, the Lilywhites in essence swapping Vuskovic for Van Hecke. Time will tell whether that was the right move or not for a player who cost around £12.5million to begin with.

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Another centre-back heading out of the club is Radu Dragusin. Spurs have agreed a loan with an obligation to buy deal with Fiorentina for the 24-year-old to depart. The obligation could be worth as much as £21.4m (25m euros) if he hits a set amount of games, plus a 10% sell-on on any profit Fiorentina should make on the Romanian with a later sale.

The Italian media have reported that Dragusin will be taking a pay cut to return to Serie A and Spurs could make a profit if their sell-on clause pays off because they signed the defender, who missed 11 months with an ACL injury, for £26.7million back in January 2024.

Further up the pitch, striker Alejo Veliz has departed to Brazilian side Bahia in a deal worth £7.7million (9m euros) with £863k (1million euros) in add-ons and a 20% sell-on clause. The 22-year-old was signed for around £13million back in 2023 and Spurs could make a profit or break even again depending on that release clause.

football.london also broke the news on Tuesday that 21-year-old midfielder Alfie Devine, who has made just a couple of appearances for the club, was undergoing a medical on Tuesday with Preston North End ahead of a permanent move to the Championship club.

Before taking Devine on loan last summer, Preston agreed an option with Tottenham to buy the England U20 midfielder in a deal worth around £6million and saw off other clubs, including Celtic to secure his services permanently. That figure is more than twice their transfer record but the youngster impressed so much that the Lancashire club, who finished 14th in the Championship last season, triggered the option with payments in instalments.

So that should result in around £86million coming into the club's coffers to offset some of that £237million spent already. More sales will follow with the likes of Cristian Romero, Guglielmo Vicario and Richarlison among the list of players linked with the exit door.

Earlier this year, Spurs CEO Vinai Venkatesham said: "Player trading is also about knowing when to sell and being decisive about moving players on who are not part of our future. Doing so is essential to maximising value and managing our financial fair play obligations. Despite common belief, we are not immune to these rules and must carefully manage our squad development plans against them."

This summer has already proven Tottenham's ambitions both with incomings and outgoings with more to come on both fronts.

The Tottenham Hotspur transfer machine keeps on churning with the north London club adding a new attacking midfielder to their under-21s

Tottenham have signed former Aston Villa attacking midfielder Cole Ramsey for their under-21s squad.

The 18-year-old, younger brother of Newcastle star Jacob Ramsey and Burnley's Aaron Ramsey, has put pen to paper for Spurs and will slot into Wayne Burnett's development squad. Ramsey spent 13 years at Villa before departing their academy this summer, his final appearance for them coming for the club's U18s against Tottenham at the end of April.

The teenager had been on trial with Leeds and played for them against Burnley in a 7-4 thriller at the latter's training ground in May.

Now Spurs have made their move though and snapped up Ramsey, who provided three goals and one assist from 19 under-18 Premier League matches last season. He established himself in the side from February onwards and those three goals came during a six-match span before his departure on trial.

Last month the youngster wrote on Instagram to the Villa supporters: "After 13 years at Aston Villa it’s time for a new chapter. This club has given me memories for life, I’ve met the best people and had moments I’ll never forget.

"Thank you to every staff member, coach, player and everyone else who’s been apart of my experience. Onto the next chapter. Only the best to come. Rambo."

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The post, which was responded to with three hearts by England World Cup star Morgan Rogers, was liked by more than 28,000 people and now Ramsey has arrived at Tottenham.

He posted an image of himself signing his contract at the club on Tuesday with the caption: "Happy to have joined this amazing club @spursofficial. Can’t wait to get started."

Tottenham Hotspur have discovered their fixture changes for television for the early months of the new Premier League season

Roberto De Zerbi now knows when his Tottenham team will play their games in the opening two months of the Premier League season after the broadcast games were announced.

Spurs already knew that they would open their campaign on Saturday August 22 with the 5.30pm kick-off away at Brentford but now the television picks have been made for the remainder of the first six weeks of the season.

Now De Zerbi knows that the club's first home match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium of the league campaign will be played on Saturday August 29 with a 5.30pm kick-off and televised on Sky Sports. It will be the first chance for Spurs' £100million signing Sandro Tonali to take on his old club.

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The following weekend's match at Nottingham Forest remains at 3pm on Saturday September 5 but the following Saturday's home game against Everton (September 12) becomes yet another 5.30pm kick-off with Sky Sports coverage.

The first early kick-off of the season for De Zerbi and Tottenham comes on September 19 as they host Aston Villa at 12.30pm with the game live on TNT Sports before the international break arrives.

More to follow...

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been the key to the Premier League club's big spending this summer much to the irritation of rival fans

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium broke its concert crowd record this week to show exactly why the north London club has been able to splash the cash this summer.

Spurs have spent £237million on three players this summer, with Sandro Tonali becoming their first £100million signing after his arrival from Newcastle on Monday. Mateus Fernandes was signed for £85million from West Ham the previous week after centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke cost Tottenham £52million from Brighton.

The club's spending, as they look to build a squad for Roberto De Zerbi that competes far higher up the table than in recent seasons, has irked fans of those Premier League sides who have struggled with the profit and sustainability rules over the years.

BBC pundit and former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer had said: "This is my argument in terms of the rules in football now on clubs spending. You've got a team who finished 17th twice in a row, yet they can go and blow everyone out of the water in terms of money-wise, where Newcastle can't. Newcastle have had to sell their best young players, had to sell their best players to comply with the rules. So, it never, ever sits easy with me. But that's Tottenham, that's fine, they can do that."

However, Spurs have far more room to spend due to having had the lowest wages to revenue ratio in the Premier League thanks to the huge revenue they bring in each year from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and sponsors as well as a previously strict wage structure. The club have also qualified for European competition in 10 of the past 12 seasons, appearing in the Champions League in half of those campaigns.

Monday night's concert at their stadium, with fans of K-Pop superstars BTS packing out the ground, brought the venue's largest ever crowd for a concert, with 65,000 watching on and the same amount is expected for Tuesday night's show. It was the seven-strong band's first UK convert in seven years and singer J-Hope told the crowd on Monday night that it was an "honour" to be playing in the same stadium where South Korean captain Son Heung-min made his name.

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The show's spectacular 360 degree stage allowed for 3,000 or so more fans to be able to watch the event than for football and NFL games there, with only some of the boxing events held there fitting in bigger crowds.

Previous reports have suggested that Tottenham are now making between £60million and £80million a year from the events held at their stadium and that huge revenue driver gives them a big help with meeting financial fair play rules. Premier League games alone bring in around £5million a match in average revenue.

The likes of Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar have brought their huge tours to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in recent years. The club announced on Tuesday that Jay-Z is set to follow his wife Beyonce in playing in N17 with a special show at the stadium celebrating his 30-year career on September 4.

The money keeps coming in for Spurs and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is starting to ensure they can compete in the transfer market and eventually the football pitch, much to their rivals' frustration.

EXCLUSIVE: Tottenham midfielder undergoing medical ahead of transfer out of the club

EXCLUSIVE: The talented young Tottenham Hotspur midfielder is set to join the Championship club where he enjoyed a big season on loan

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Alfie Devine is undergoing a medical today with Preston North End ahead of a permanent move to the Championship club, football.london understands.

The 21-year-old enjoyed a memorable season out on loan with North End with eight goals and eight assists in the centre of the park from 48 appearances. He earned plaudits aplenty for his performances and Devine at one point had eight clubs interested in taking him permanently from Spurs, including Scottish champions Celtic as well as some promotion-chasing Championship sides.

However, Preston were always strongly in the race thanks to their relationship with the midfielder, who they made a concerted push to ensure he felt wanted from the first moments at the club.

Before taking Devine on loan last summer, Preston agreed an option with Tottenham to buy the England U20 midfielder in a deal worth around £6million. That figure is more than twice their transfer record but the youngster impressed so much that the Lancashire club, who finished 14th in the Championship last season, were said to have triggered the option with payments in instalments.

Now football.london understands Devine, who has 12 months left on his contract at Spurs, is undergoing his medical after giving the green light to Preston.

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He is the north London club's youngest ever goalscorer after his FA Cup strike in 2021 as a 16-year-old against Marine, but two appearances in that competition are the only occasions in which he has pulled on a Spurs shirt in senior competitive matches. Instead the midfielder has been sent out on multiple loans over the years to Port Vale, Plymouth, Belgian side Westerlo and then Preston last season.

Tottenham's pre-season schedule is now almost full as Roberto De Zerbi prepares to welcome new and old faces to Hotspur Way

Roberto De Zerbi has his summer mapped out ahead of him as his Tottenham players - new and old - arrive this week for training and then a busy pre-season schedule.

Spurs' first team players will start heading into the club's Enfield training complex in stages from this Friday for medical and physical testing and gym work. They will then begin full sessions on the training pitches with De Zerbi and his coaching staff from Monday as they kick off preparations for a big campaign.

Among the first group back are likely to be some of the north London club's new signings in the shape of £100million man Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, who cost £85million himself, as well as goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. The other three newcomers so far - Andy Robertson, Jan Paul van Hecke and Marcos Senesi - will arrive after a minimum three-week break following their World Cup duty.

Ahead of the Premier League season kicking off for Tottenham on August 22 with the trip to Brentford, De Zerbi's team have seven pre-season friendlies lined up currently for the weeks before.

The first summer friendly at the moment will see them host League One side MK Dons at Hotspur Way on Wednesday July 22. Spurs will fly off the next day to New Zealand to take on Auckland FC on Sunday, July 26 at Eden Park. The next day, De Zerbi's men will head to Australia to face A-League side Sydney FC on Wednesday, July 29 at the Allianz Stadium.

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Tottenham will see out their involvement in the 2026 Sydney Super Cup with a first derby against Chelsea to be played outside the UK on Saturday, August 1 at the 83,500-capacity Accor Stadium.

When Spurs return to the UK they will take on Getafe in another behind-closed-doors friendly match at Hotspur Way on Saturday August 8. The game kicks off at 3pm and will be available to watch on SpursPlay.

After that the Lilywhites will host Bundesliga side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim twice on the weekend before their new Premier League season kicks off under De Zerbi.

First they will play in front of the fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Hoffenheim on Saturday August 15, with the kick-off set for 3pm. Hoffenheim finished fifth in last season’s Bundesliga table and Spurs have confirmed that the tickets for the friendly match in N17 will cost £20 for adults and £5 for children.

Spurs will then take on Christian Ilzer's team again the following day on Sunday August 16 in a behind-closed-doors game at their Hotspur Way training complex to ensure another Tottenham starting XI of players gets a strong run-out to improve their fitness and sharpness.