The 23-year-old Romanian international finally joins for £8.5m on a contract of undisclosed length.
Tottenham Hotspur have officially announced the signing of 23-year-old centre-back Vlad Chiriches for a fee of £8.5m.
Chiriches made 62 appearances for his former club, Romanian giants Steaua Bucharest. His performances domestically also saw him earn 19 caps for Romania, the first of which came in 2011 when he was just 20 years of age.
At first it seemed as if the Chiriches transfer might never have materialised. Steaua Buchurest were fully ready to sell the player, before club owner George Becali infamously blocked the move whilst imprisoned.
In the interim, Chiriches was quoted as saying “I felt like crying when Steaua rejected first offer from Tottenham. For two days I couldn’t think of anything else.”
Becali eventually relented, and now Chiriches has completed his move for the highest fee ever received by a Romanian club.
Whilst it is unlikely that he will be a first-teamer, he will most likely be third choice centre-back following the sale of England international Steven Caulker.
With Spurs competing in numerous tournaments this season, and manager Andre Villas-Boas famed fondness for European competition, Chiriches will add valuable depth to the squad in an area which many felt Spurs were weak at.
It is unlikely that Chiriches will be registered in time for the North London Derby vs Arsenal this Sunday, although he could feature on the bench for Spurs’ Premier League fixture against Norwich City on September 14th.
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