MASON MELIA will join Spurs for a League of Ireland record fee of almost €2million.
Melia did not train with St Pat’s yesterday, following their return from a pre-season training camp in Spain.
Instead, he was in London to undergo a medical to seal a deal with the English Premier League giants, although he will not be able to move until the transfer window in January 2026.
Brexit has meant players cannot move from Ireland to Britain until they turn 18, with Melia reaching that landmark in September.
SunSport revealed in December that Tottenham had launched a major charm offensive in a bid to jump to the top of the queue to sign the St Pat’s striker
He was brought over for their game against Chelsea and shown around their training facilities.
That was a decisive move in ensuring Spurs remained in the hot seat to sign the Wicklow native.
Everton, Chelsea and Celtic were also keen but, like Tottenham, could not proceed with a deal until he turned 18.
Bologna and Hannover 96 were in a position to sign the forward now but SunSport revealed that he would be staying put until at least the summer.
In theory, he could line out for St Pat’s for the entire 2025 campaign, although Spurs may require him to take a break before he links up with them.
He suffered a back problem towards the end of last season which was attributed to his increased load.
Melia clocked up 41 appearances in all competitions, bagging seven goals.
He had made a scoring debut for St Pat’s against Wexford in January 2023 at the age of 15 and went on to play 10 times in the league that season, scoring twice.
The initial sum of around €1.9m that Spurs have agreed to pay the Inchicore outfit will be by far the largest upfront fee paid for a player based in Ireland.
The League of Ireland side will also maintain a sell on clause is 20 percent on the player.
That could be doubled through performance-related clauses, including ones after five and ten first-team appearances, goals scored, senior international caps won and any future transfer.
Shamrock Rovers eventually received well in excess of €2m from the sale of Gavin Bazunu to Manchester City, following his subsequent move to Southampton, but the initial fee was just €500,000.
St Pat’s received around €700,000 for James Abankwah from Udinese three years ago and are still in line to receive further payments relating to the defender, now on loan at Watford.
