Birmingham City starlet Rico Browne has snubbed interest from Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur to sign a professional contract with the Blues, according to Football Insider.

The 18-year-old has been tracked by a number of top flight clubs due to his impressive performances for Birmingham's youth team, with West Ham United taking him on a trial back in February 2021.

Spurs were believed to have verbally offered Browne an 18-month deal just one month later, but the Blues' reported seven-figure price-tag proved to be a stumbling block.

The teenage defender has now decided to complete his scholarship at the Championship outfit and is believed to have already signed professional terms with Lee Bowyer's side.

A Saint Kitts and Nevis youth international, Browne has split his time between Birmingham's under-18's team and under-23's in the Premier League 2 competition this season.

Browne has played 12 times for the younger age group whilst featuring 10 times for the under-23's, however he's yet to make an appearance in a first-team squad for the Blues.

The Verdict

Tying down Browne to a professional contract is a big step for Birmingham.

As we've seen in recent years, they clearly have a great academy set-up with Jude Bellingham being the main attraction, but there's a pathway for others to break through which is being seen right now with Nico Gordon's emergence.

Browne has clearly shown an awful lot of promise to be tracked by top flight clubs and he's featuring regularly for the under-23's at a young age, which shows he's ahead of his development.

The next step now is to break into the first-team at St. Andrew's - something that should definitely be possible in the near future.