Nineteen-year-old Wilson Odobert has swapped Lancashire for London, as he has completed a move to Tottenham Hotspur less than twelve hours before the new Premier League campaign gets underway.
The deal, which is subject to international clearance and other formalities, looks to have been completed before the registration deadline, meaning the Frenchman will be eligible to feature in The Lilywhites' season opener against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Monday night.
He becomes the sixth teenager to be signed by Ange Postecoglou since he arrived at the club thirteen months ago, meaning the average age of his sixteen senior signings is now 21.8 years old.
Odobert, who can play as both a winger or number ten, leaves Burnley with their Sky Bet Championship season already underway, having beaten Luton Town by four goals to one just four days ago. The attacker even got himself on the scoresheet during the victory at Kenilworth Road.
Here is what Tottenham fans can expect from their latest addition.
A 'dribbly' winger
It's been well-documented that Johan Lange and his recruitment team were looking to add a direct, explosive winger to Postecoglou's squad this summer, and it appears that Tottenham have finally secured their man.
Amongst all teenagers in the Premier League, the nineteen-year-old ranked first for the most successful dribbles completed during the 2023/24 campaign (53). When compared to teenagers around the continent, he ranked fourth, with only star boy Lamine Yamal, former Tottenham target Désiré Doué and new Brighton recruit Brajan Gruda ranking above him.
It looked pretty clear that Pedro Neto had been the main target throughout the summer to date, but in a crazy turn of events, he joined rivals Chelsea just days ago, meaning the North London side needed to act fast.
They have done exactly that, securing the services of another exciting young prospect, who seems to fit the mould of 'Postecoglou winger', and draws close similarities to previous targets.
Career to date
Despite only playing professionally for just over two years, Odobert has enjoyed a favourable career to date, which has seen him represent France from u16 to u23 level.
Formerly a member of Paris Saint-Germain's academy, the Frenchman opted to make the switch to fellow Ligue 1 side ESTAC Troyes in July 2022 as he sought regular first-team playing time. With L'ESTAC, he made 32 appearances across the 2022/23 campaign, scoring on four occasions.
As a seventeen-year-old, his form during his first season in the professional game caught the eye of many, with Burnley sealing a £10.2m deal to bring the attacker to Turf Moor in the summer of 2023. Whilst with The Clarets, he scored five goals in 34 appearances - becoming the club's youngest-ever goalscorer in the top flight.
His impressive quality in Vincent Kompany's relegated side has now earned him a mammoth move to Spurs, who have secured a deal worth an initial fee of £25m.
Mixing amongst the best
Whilst his outings in a Burnley shirt may have snuck under the radar, his numbers match up with some of the world's best.
Compared to midfielders, he ranks in the 99th percentile, the top one per cent of players in that position, for take-ons attempted and completed, progressive carries and progressive carries into the penalty area., completing at least two a game in every metric stated.
The versatile forward is also amongst the top two per cent when it comes to touches in the opposition box. Although this statistic may sound rather pointless if there is no end product, it is an extreme necessity when playing in the way that Tottenham do.
An awful lot of goals were scored from low bye-line crosses last season, with numerous assists from Brennan Johnson coming from within the width of the eighteen-yeard box. If Odobert can combine his dribbling successes with some improvement to his end product inside the box, he could be set for a very healthy season in the goal contributions list.
Opinion of the writer
It is very early to call but this capture appears to be one of great promise. A versatile attacker is exactly what Tottenham have been chasing for a few months now, so finally securing a main target is a huge coup for Postecoglou.
His ability to play across the front line will be much needed with Spurs fighting in four competitions this season and hopefully Odobert will be able to match the performance levels he exerted at Burnley, as with a Premier League giant in Tottenham he will naturally reap greater rewards.
Only time will tell, but a £30m package for an attacker who scored five and assisted three in a relegated team, seems to be a fantastic opportunity for The Lilywhites, and it will also help in their bid to offload Manor Solomon, who has now fallen further down the pecking order.