The unusual nature of Tottenham’s unveiling of new £30m signing Wilson Odobert
Tottenham have a new signing in the shape of Wilson Odobert even if his £30million move from Burnley came with as little fanfare as possible to begin with.
Spurs snapped up the talented 19-year-old French dribbler from the Clarets in a deal worth an initial £25million plus another potential £5million in add-ons. Odobert penned a contract until 2029 and will take the shirt number 28 once worn by his compatriot Tanguy Ndombele.
The young attacker, who can play on either wing or through the middle in attack and midfield, played 29 times in the Premier League last season despite his tender age with three goals and three assists. He made the most successful dribbles by a teenager in the competition and the fourth most in Europe’s top five leagues last season with 53.
Odobert scored for Burnley against Luton this week, showing his pace in their Championship opener, and now he will get to display that speed, dribbling and versatility in a Tottenham shirt for Ange Postecoglou.
There was little fanfare around his signing though to begin with on Friday morning, with no leaks of the move in the media in the days before and it seemed to surprise Spurs as well, as they simply put out a short story to say the teenager had signed, without the usual club tease of a new signing.
Even the player himself simply changed the bio in his Instagram account to say Spurs, with no posts about his former and new club. It then took seven hours for the club to post anything more about the transfer, before Odobert was finally shown in his new kit in an amusing video that made light of the long wait.
