Spurs sign Routledge

Wayne Routledge today finally signed for Tottenham after the club agreed a £1.25m fee with Crystal Palace. The four-year deal, which could be worth £2m depending on appearances, brings closure to the longest running transfer saga of the year.

Suspended Spurs sporting director Frank Arnesen first targeted the 20-year-old in January but a £1.5m offer was rejected by Palace chairman Simon Jordan.

Palace valued him at closer to £3m - even though his contract expired this summer - and the disagreement over the fee led to increasingly fraught relations between the clubs.

Spurs returned last month with a cheeky £7.5m joint bid for the right-winger and star striker Andy Johnson, which was also rejected out of hand by Jordan.

With the two clubs at loggerheads, the fee was set to be decided by an independent tribunal until today's settlement. An ever-present for Palace last season, Routledge was so keen to move to Spurs that he signed a pre-contract and had already agreed personal terms.

Following Simon Davies' £4m switch to Everton, Spurs have a vacancy on the right side of midfield. Routledge is an obvious candidate for the position but he will face competition from 18-year-old Aaron Lennon, the winger signed this week from Leeds in a £1m deal.