Ferdinand Okoh has not been offered a scholarship to become a full-time Academy Year One player for next season. He will instead join Bournemouth on a two-year deal.
The Nigerian youth player also had a trial with Stoke City but opted to head to the south coast to join The Cherries.
Okoh, a central midfielder, joined Spurs as a 15 year old from West Ham last year.
We wish him well for the future.
Belgian side Anderlecht are interested in Spurs’ Michel Vorm and Jonathan De Bie this summer, according to Het Nieuwsblad.
Both goalkeepers are out of contract this summer and neither player is likely to receive a new offer from Tottenham.
Vorm has already been released once by the club and was only brought back as emergency cover with Hugo Lloris suffering a long-term injury. He has only made one appearance since his return, gifting a goal to Norwich City which helped see Tottenham exit the FA Cup.
De Bie hasn’t made the progress expected of him despite a promising start to his time at Hotspur Way.
At 36 and 19 years old respectively, Vorm, a Dutch international, and De Bie, a Belgian youth international, are at opposite ends of their careers, but the move could work for both players.
Despite the highly publicised appointment of Vincent Kompany as Player/Captain/Manager, Anderlecht have been disappointing in Belgian First Division A this season and are currently lying in 8th place. They are most successful club in Belgian history, winning the League 34 times.
For those who follow Spurs’ youth teams, the loss of Luis Binks to Thierry Henry’s Montreal Impact came as a shock.
Both Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen are the wrong side of 30 and the England youth international, whose grace on the ball and leadership qualities stood out, was viewed by many as their natural successor. To lose a highly promising player, only a year or two away from competing for a first team spot, was incredibly disappointing.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Binks outlined some of the reasons why he chose to move to the MLS and join Montreal, despite a late intervention from Jose Mourinho:
‘I told the academy staff I was leaving and they said, “We’ll get Mourinho here”. He said how much he liked me, that I would be going on pre-season and, if I did well, I could play a few games next year.
‘That made the decision even tougher, but it also reassured me that, if I’m good enough, I will get to the top.
‘I didn’t want to take the risk of waiting for something that might never come. You then get to 21 and you still haven’t played.
‘I play for England with Mason Greenwood at Man United and it’s brilliant to see him getting on and doing so well. But he’s a forward, it’s different for a centre-half, they don’t bring you on for the last 15 minutes, do they?
‘So I needed to push myself, I couldn’t sit around in the 23s, that just wasn’t for me.’
He said that the success of Jadon Sancho was a major influence on his decision to leave Hostpur Way in search on first team football:
‘My debut here there were 30,000 fans. Last year, for the Under 23s, you’d be away to Derby on a Thursday night in front of 50 people.
‘The crowd, the occasion, it motivates you, you want more of it. You can still learn playing Under 23s, but not as much as this.
‘When Jadon Sancho went to Dortmund and did so well, it really inspired me. So I thought, “Yeah, why not?”. It felt like a no-brainer.’
Binks also recalls not holding back when mixing it with Spurs’ senior players for the first time:
‘My first training session at Tottenham, I was only 16, there was a 50-50 and I went in with Jan Vertonghen.
‘I went in hard – but fair, I think – and he got up and shouted at me, “You f***ing idiot”. Literally, 20 seconds later, the same 50-50 challenge came along… I went in full blooded again and he rolled his ankle.
‘He went mental. For six months he wouldn’t shake my hand. He’d just laugh and say, “You’re that kid who did me!”.’
Losing Luis Binks was undoubtably a blow, but you can can hardly blame him for seeking guaranteed first team football and it’s clear he has a plan of how he is going to make it as a top player. We hope he fulfils his obvious potential and eventually finds his way home to play in lilywhite.
This week has seen the news break across twitter, that Dean Gary Parrett, has left spurs and has already played in a competitive match for Crystal Palace U21’s against Bolton Wanderers following his release. Reading a few reports it seems as though Dean impressed, this will be the second young English player to be confirmed as leaving White Hart Lane this close season, after i revealed last week that Nathan Bryne had agreed to leave Tottenham on the expiration of his contract and join loan club Swindon Town on a permanent deal this summer.
Dean whose contract expires this summer, and had expected to be released by spurs albeit some impressive performances for the spurs u21’s side campaign, especially netting twice at the Hawthorns in a 0-4 victory.
Parrett has represented England at many youth levels and made his Spurs debut shortly after joining in a Europa League tie against Ukrainian side Shaktar Donetsk on the 19th February 2009.
Dean who joined spurs at the age of 15 from Queens Park Rangers, also had a host of Loan spells whilst with the club with mixed response at Swindon, Yeovil, Charlton, Plymouth and Aldershot.
Dean follows another English youngster who was tipped for big things when moving to Spurs for more than £1 Million in Leigh Mills, hopefully Dean has a brighter further in the game that Mills did, now 25 he is currently unattached following his release from conference south side Eastleigh.
Dean comes from a family of spurs fans, his mum Kalitsa regularly interacting on Facebook and Twitter with updates on Deans career and pictures of the spurs youth team, matches and tournaments they have participated in. Dean is engaged to Nikki Pritchard the sister of young spurs player Alex Pritchard.
We at lillywhiterose wish Dean all the best for the future and hope to see him and his family of spurs fans at White Hart Lane in the not to distant future.
John Wenham.
Lilywhite Rose 