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Khumalo's agent thanks club

Johannesburg - Bongani Khumalo's agent Glyn Binkin has paid tribute to SuperSport United for allowing their captain to join Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs have confirmed on their website that the 23-year-old will move to the north London side in January after agreeing a R17 million deal.

Having initially shown an interest in Khumalo before the World Cup, Harry Redknapp invited the player over for trials in August and decided to follow that up with a bid.

And with the transfer now all but sealed, Binkin believes it was the attitude of SuperSport officials that made the deal possible.

"For me it's about giving the player an opportunity and I'd like to thank SuperSport for making that happen," he told Football365.co.za.

"It's hard for them to lose their captain in the middle of the season but they are prepared to let players further their careers and that is why I like dealing with them. It wasn't so much about the money for them - they don't just say it, they actually act that way, whereas other clubs often don't."

Despite facing stiff competition from current Spurs centre-backs Michael Dawson, William Gallas, Ledley King, Younes Kaboul and Sebastian Bassong , Binkin believes Khumalo is good enough to challenge for a regular starting spot.

"Bongani's first priority is to try and win a place in the Spurs side and I think he is good enough to do that," he continued.

"He's not going there with a view of going out on loan, he's going there to get into the first team so we will have to see what happens.

"Obviously he is a bit of an unknown quantity at the moment and we're talking about top-class European football here. He realises there are challenges ahead but Bongani has never been one to duck out of challenges."

Binkin added: "He's been to London twice already and if possible he will go back again before January to start an adaptation process before moving there permanently.

"That should make it easier because obviously the weather is very cold that time of the year and it will only help him get used to the new surroundings. But Bongani's mentality is very good and I'm sure he will be able to cope."

There have been concerns that Khumalo's move may be delayed because he does not quite meet stiff UK regulations governing the signing of non-European Union players. However, Binkin does not foresee any problems.

"There's two problems - one that Bafana haven't had an average ranking in the world's top 70 and two that he has hasn't played in 75 percent of their competitive matches in the last two years," he said.

"But since the Confederations Cup, he has played in every single competitive match apart from one where he was injured so I think it will be fine. Spurs will look after the work permit when the time is right but we are very confident he will attain it. He's fulfilled the criteria over recent times so both parties expect no hitches."
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