‘If It Is Spread’ – Club Want To Stagger Payments For Tottenham Hotspur Star | OneFootball

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Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Alfie Devine is wanted on a permanent basis by Preston North End, however the Championship side need to agree a payment plan, according to journalist Alan Nixon.

Devine has spent the season on loan at Deepdale and made an impression while featuring on a regular basis under Paul Heckingbottom.

Heckingbottom admitted as quickly as October that he was loving what Devine was bringing to the table at Preston.

The feelings went both ways, with the Spurs talent revealing in December that he was loving life at the Championship side.

Preston have seen more than enough to want to keep the Tottenham midfielder and did agree a price of £4.5m with Spurs last summer that they could trigger.

While Preston agreed the price though, they have not agreed the payment plan and need to do that with the north London side before the transfer can proceed.

It is suggested that Preston feel they could afford the £4.5m transfer fee ‘if it is spread over three or four years’.

Whether that will prove to be acceptable to Tottenham is unclear, though spreading payment plans over instalments is typical in transfer deals.

North End finished in 14th in the Championship this season after a promising start faded away as the campaign wore on.

Devine was regularly handed games by Heckingbottom and despite being just 21 years old, missed just one Championship outing over the course of the campaign.

The Tottenham talent also scored eight times and provided seven assists for his team-mates, proving to be an effective weapon from his attacking midfield role.

Born in Warrington, joining Preston permanently would represent a return to the north west for Devine.

He has had a number of loan spells away from Tottenham to further his development.

Time at Plymouth Argyle saw Devine hailed for his tactical brain by Argyle’s then boss Ian Foster.

And in Belgium, at Westerlo, Devine explained that he felt well supported by Tottenham amid talks with Ange Postecoglou.

If Tottenham reach an agreement with Preston though, Devine’s time at Tottenham will come to a permanent end.

It remains to be seen if Tottenham might want to include a sell-on clause in the deal with Preston, or potentially even a buy-back clause or right of first refusal clause in the event the midfielder kicks on hugely over the coming seasons.