Tottenham Hotspur complete signing of midfielder Shilow Tracey from Ebbsfleet United

Ebbsfleet United have confirmed that highly rated midfielder Shilow Tracey has completed a January transfer to Tottenham Hotspur. The 17-year-old joins for an undisclosed fee and will link up with his new club's academy squad after weeks of speculation regarding a potential move to White Hart Lane.

Tracey first arrived in North London for a three-day trial back in November, an arrangement that obviously worked well as his manager Daryl McMahon subsequently revealed the youngester was likely to return. The player later travelled with the Tottenham U18 side that reached the final of the IMG Cup in Florida last month, underlining his potential with goals in the group stage against Jacksonville Armada and Baltimore Celtic.

Although Kieran McKenna's side eventually lost out to Maccabi Haifa on penalties in the final following a 2-2 draw, Tracey clearly impressed during that tournament and will now join the Premier League outfit on a full-time basis.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for Shilow and we are proud of the fact that our youth academy is producing quality young players just one year after we set it up," Ebbsfleet vice-chairman Peter Varney told his club's official website.

"I would like to thank Spurs for the professional manner in which they have handled the transfer negotiations. I must also recognise the work done with Shilow by Daryl McMahon and his staff in our youth academy."

Ebbsfleet revealed that Tracey had been attracting admiring glances from several other interested parties from English football's top two tiers.

In the statement to confirm his departure, the National League South leaders added: "The highly rated 17-year-old has been creating plenty of ripples lately with clubs including Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town, Reading and West Ham monitoring his progress."

Although it will likely be some time before Tracey, who made just one senior appearance for Ebbsfleet, is considered ready to join Tottenham's first-team setup, Mauricio Pochettino has developed a reputation for handing regular opportunities to young home-grown players since succeeding Tim Sherwood in May 2014. Dele Alli has quickly become a fulcrum of the side as well as a fully fledged England international since returning from a loan spell with MK Dons last summer, while Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Tom Carroll and Ben Davies all are considered regulars under the Argentine.