Tottenham Hotspur have officially announced that another player is out the door this summer, but it’s probably not the one you were thinking of. The club’s academy account tweeted today that 21-year-old midfielder Yago Santiago has been sold to Spanish second division side Elche. The transfer fee was not disclosed.
Santiago joined Tottenham’s academy from Celta Vigo as a 16-year-old in 2019 and gained a little bit of buzz among fans who were tracking the academy players, but Yago never seemed to get his breakthrough, especially in recent seasons. Last season he played well in the Premier League 2, tallying 8G+7a in 1700 minutes of action, a very solid return, playing mostly as an attacking mid. I think a number of fans were hoping that he’d be given a chance with the first team this preseason, but it appears Ange Postecoglou and the rest of the academy disagreed.
That said, this is exactly how the academy is supposed to work. Most of the players coming through Tottenham’s youth system are not going to make it at Tottenham Hotspur, and selling them to other clubs for a small profit is a positive outcome. Santiago heading to the Spanish Segunda Division is good — he’ll get a chance to establish himself as a professional footballer in his home country, and hopefully earn himself a move to a bigger and better club. Hard to see this as anything but a success for Spurs’ academy.
My guess is Santiago was probably sold for a small fee with maybe a sell-on clause tacked on in the event he explodes and gets sold to a bigger club, and that’s fine. Maybe we’ll get further reporting on that in the future, but for now it’s just a big ol’ unknown.
Good luck, Yago.