Aston Villa have beaten off competition from Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur for Northampton Town striker Caleb Chukwuemeka, the Cobblers have confirmed.

Spurs were thought to be leading the chase for the 19-year-old and according to Football Insider they had offered up young striker Kion Etete on a loan deal for the season as part of a deal.

Etete has since signed for the League Two side and announced his arrival with a Carabao Cup brace against Coventry City, but Spurs have been pipped to Chukwuemeka's signing by Villa.

Dean Smith's side have snapped up the forward, who scored twice in four starts and 20 substitute appearances last season for Northampton and due to the fact his scholarship was expiring in February 2022, the Cobblers were forced to accept his departure for a transfer fee.

 

 

 

 

And he will join his younger brother Carney at Villa Park, with the 17-year-old midfielder having made his Premier League debut for the club back in May.

Cobblers chairman Martin Thomas has revealed that Villa have been 'professional' throughout negotiations and that the undisclosed transfer fee contains add-ons relating to Chukwuemeka's future dveleopment.

The Verdict

This is a good deal for all involved considering it was made pretty clear that Chukwuemeka would not be extending his stay at Sixfields.

The striker clearly has some promise which is why a number of top flight clubs were tracking him, however he didn't start many games in League One last season with it seemingly looking like he was being gradually blooded in to the senior squad with the 2021-22 season in mind.

There was no guarantee though that he would get regular first-team football this season though and with the help of better facilities and coaches, he could develop into a very good striker at Villa having already scored twice for Northampton.

And of course a big factor in the move was probably to re-unite with his younger brother Carney - who made the switch from Northampton to Villa himself in 2016 - and seeing how he broke into the senior set-up a few months ago will have made his transfer decision pretty simple.