DeAndre Yedlin will join Tottenham in January
Seattle Sounders defender DeAndre Yedlin will join Tottenham in January, the club confirmed Tuesday.
Yedlin won his appeal for a UK work permit last week, paving the way for the 21-year-old Seattle native to follow up on the four-year transfer deal he signed with Tottenham in August. According to England's visa rules, non-Europlean players must have participated in 75 percent of their national team's matches during the previous two years in order to be granted a work permit. Yedlin did not qualify, so Tottenham filed the appeal to allow him to play.
Yedlin's four-year contract is worth $4 million, Taylor Twellman of ESPN first reported.
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The right back emerged as a popular European target last summer following his strong performance for the United States men's national team at the World Cup in Brazil. Yedlin played 112 minutes off the bench across three World Cup matches, and later earned US Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year honors.
After making his MLS debut in 2013, Yedlin has been an All-Star the past two seasons, appearing in 69 matches with three goals and six assists.
In an August conference call following the news of Yedlin's transfer, Seattle general manager Adrian Hanauer said the Sounders first learned of Tottenham's interest in Yedlin "just before" the clubs' July 19 friendly.
“Then I would say that it progressed relatively slowly but consistently from that point forward, and there were other offers and interests in the interim,” he said. “But I think we believed that Tottenham would be a really good home for DeAndre and I think DeAndre – I don't want to put words in his mouth -- but I think he and his representation would say the same thing.”
Tottenham is currently seventh in the Premier League with 27 points in 17 games.
- Mike Fiammetta
