June 17 2005

Wayne Routledge

Wayne Routledge has joined Tottenham Hotspur for an undisclosed fee.

Spurs made two £2m bids for the winger that were rejected by the Eagles in the January transfer window. Routledge was out of contract at the end of the season, but as he is under 24, could not leave on a Bosman free transfer.

After months of wrangling, both clubs finally came to an agreement over Routledge's compenation fee before it was decided by a league tribunal.

Palace boss Iain Dowie made several attempts to keep Routledge at the club but the England U21 international insisted his future lie elsewhere.

Routledge came up through Palace's youth Academy and made his league debut as a substitute aged 16 against West Brom in the League Cup in October 2001.

The 20-year-old was an ever-present in Palace's Premiership campaign last season and made 123 appearances overall, scoring 11 goals.