Tottenham and Brighton Deal for Alex Pritchard Hijacked by Norwich

Tottenham midfielder Alex Pritchard was close to signing with Brighton, before Norwich stepped in at the last minute to hijack the deal.

According to a Sky Sports report, Norwich City looks like they’re hijacking Brighton & Hove Albion’s £8 million deal to secure the services of Tottenham’s out-of-favor attacking midfielder, Alex Pritchard.

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The transfer between the Seagulls and Spurs was close to being complete after Pritchard had agreed to personal terms and was about to undergo a medical on Tuesday night.

Then something happened, a late approach by the Canaries was enough to turn the 23-year-old’s head around and he instead underwent a medical with Norwich City.

Based on which club would be better for Pritchard’s development (even though he no longer has a future with Spurs), the Canaries who just got relegated from the Premier League last season could be back within a year.

And that’s because Norwich will be given parachute payments from the Premier League to help them out.

Higher wages could seal the deal for Alex Pritchard, but in the end it doesn’t matter which team pays Tottenham £8 million (or more). They’ll eventually get their money.

Although Norwich City will be boosted in their quest to the return to the Premier League in the form of parachute payments, the Telegraph notes that starting with the 2016-17 season, promoted clubs who are relegated after one year in the Premiership won’t receive the full payments.

A new system was established in which relegated clubs can receive these parachute payments for three full seasons. However, any team who is one-and-done in the Premiership will only receive payments for two seasons instead.

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That doesn’t seem like it makes much of a difference but in actuality it does, seeing as how the new Premier League TV deal goes into effect this season.

Getting a portion of the £5.3 billion domestic rights deal could be the difference in luring footballers to your team and returning to the top-flight division quickly rather than toil away in the Championship for years on end.

Here’s a section from the Telegraph’s article that explains it in further detail:

"From the 2016-17 season relegated clubs will receive 55% of the equal share of broadcast revenue paid to Premier League clubs in the first year after relegation, 45% the following year and 20% in year three.Clubs relegated after a single season will receive 55% and 45% over two seasons with the third payment eliminated entirely."

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Because Norwich City will be receiving parachute payments, Brighton & Hove Albion have no way to match the wages or transfer fee that the Canaries would pay Tottenham to keep Alex Pritchard from joining any other Championship club.

What started as a promising career for the 23-year-old two years ago with Brentford, has quickly evaporated due to an ankle injury last summer while on international duty in the Under-21 European Championship.

Here’s hoping that Pritchard can get his career back on track soon.