Celtic eyeing Spurs star - It may affect permanent Preston North End move | OneFootball

There's a £4.5m option-to-buy at the end of Alfie Devine's loan with the Lilywhites

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Alfie Devine has been a standout star for Preston North End this season on loan.

Disregarding Saturday afternoon’s match against Charlton Athletic, the England youth international has registered eight goals and four assists across 40 Championship appearances.

It's already known that if the Lilywhites want to keep the 21-year-old at Deepdale beyond this season, they have to pay a club-record fee of £4.5m, as per The Lancashire Post.

But there's a fresh twist involving a certain club north of the English border that could put this option-to-buy in jeopardy.

Celtic boss Martin O'Neill spotted watching Spurs star Alfie Devine at Preston North End

According to Football Insider's Pete O'Rourke, Celtic interim manager Michael O'Neill was spotted in the stands during Preston North End's 1-1 draw with Queens Park Rangers on Easter Monday.

With this in mind, O’Rourke’s sources indicated that Alfie Devine was the “focus of attention.”

The transfer correspondent had revealed earlier on the outlet’s podcast that O’Neill wanted to assess the Spurs youngster in person to determine his suitability for Celtic’s squad.

In said game, Devine set up Brad Potts for North End's goal, which was his fourth goal contribution in just his last three league games.

Although O'Neill has apparently refused to rule out staying at Celtic longer, the expectation is that he will leave at the end of the season. Even still, the aforementioned Football Insider report notes that the Northern Irishman remains involved in the Glasgow club's "ambitious" summer recruitment plans.

Devine told BBC Radio Lancashire on Friday that this loan spell he's having has been his "best" one yet, although there's no obligation for the midfielder to commit his future to Preston, which obvioulsy leaves the door open for the likes of Celtic.

In short, the option-to-buy hinges on whether North End can afford him AND whether Devine wants to stay.

As per The Lancashire Post once more, Preston's chairman, Peter Risdale, confirmed personal terms are already agreed with Devine, so that's one less thing to worry about.

But, they'd have to more than double their current highest spend of about £2m, which they reportedly paid for Callum Lang in February.

How Tottenham Hotspur's own troubles add weight to Alfie Devine's Preston North End or Celtic future

Ultimately, this growing Celtic admiration could derail Preston's plans for Devine entirely - or he could even end up staying at Spurs.

Thanks to West Ham United's 4-0 win over Wolves on Friday night, Tottenham are now in the Premier League's bottom three for the first time since 2009.

Yes, there's still seven games to go, but should Spurs actually drop into the second tier, Devine could feature in their plans for next season.

For now, though, if the youngster keeps his form going strong till the end of the season, then surely more and more clubs will be queuing up to sign him in the summer.