Hutton Flies in to Seal Spurs Switch

Alan Hutton is expected to sign for Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon after agreeing a £33,000-a-week deal at White Hart Lane.

The Rangers full-back was not at the Glasgow club's training ground this morning, instead boarding a plane to London to finalize a deal with Juande Ramos's side that will treble his current wage packet and run until the summer of 2012.

The Rangers manager Walter Smith confirmed that a deal is imminent. "He's currently in London and I think the clubs and Alan Hutton have all reached agreement," he said. "It would look as though after the remaining formalities that he will join Spurs."

The move is likely to make Hutton the most expensive Scottish player in history. Tottenham have agreed an initial £8m fee with Rangers, but if the £2m of add-ons are activated in the future then the total sum would eclipse the £9m Sunderland paid for Hearts' Scottish goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Today's news will be of great satisfaction to Ramos and Spurs, who appear to have finally got their man after a lengthy chase. Earlier this month, despite Rangers' willingness to sell, the 23-year-old insisted that he wanted to stay at Ibrox, but Hutton spent this weekend in London and seems finally to have been persuaded to leave Scotland for southern England.

The Scottish international is thought to be receiving a £1m pay-off from Rangers to facilitate the deal.

Tottenham are likely to announce the signing this afternoon. Hutton's arrival will be the second of Spurs' defensive reinforcements this week after the signing of Jonathan Woodgate yesterday and both are likely to feature a new-look back four. Tottenham's season has thus far been undermined by a terrible defensive record in the Premier League - only the bottom three and Reading have conceded more goals.