OPINION
Tottenham have been handed a blow in the chase to sign Irish teenager Gavin Bazunu as it has been reported that Manchester City are now leading the chase for the goalkeeper’s signature.
According to the Irish Independent, Spurs’ Premier League rivals are now in pole position to sign the 16-year-old Shamrock Rovers player, even though he will not be able to complete a move away from the Irish club until 2019.
The same newspaper has previously reported that Tottenham have bid £178,000 plus add-ons for Bazunu, and will also offer him a four-year deal if he decides to head to North London after his 17th birthday in February of next year.
Spurs are understood to still be tracking Bazunu, but they cannot let Man City win the race for his signature because he is going to be a very good goalkeeper in the future.
Bazunu has already started to feature in the Shamrock Rovers first team and yes, while the League of Ireland is a much lower standard than some of the youth leagues in England, he is just 16-years-old and it says a lot about his potential.
This season, he made his European debut in Rovers’ Europa League qualifiers against Swedish giants AIK, and that is the kind of experience that some of the younger goalkeepers at Tottenham would love at this stage of their careers.
The Irish Independent claims that there will be a decision made on Bazunu’s future within the next week, and Spurs simply cannot let him fall into the clutches of Man City.