Celtic have confirmed that Blues midfielder Kundai Benyu will join them on a four-year deal when his Town contract is up on July 1st.
The Blues will be entitled to compensation for the 19-year-old, who was unable to agree new terms at Portman Road, although it's likely to be a low six-figure sum.
"I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Celtic,” Benyu told the Glasgow club’s official website.
"It’s a massive honour to sign for the Scottish champions and one of the world's truly great clubs. It’s also a great opportunity for me to continue to develop as a footballer under Brendan Rodgers.
"I’m looking forward to meeting up with my new Celtic team-mates. I know there’s a lot of hard work ahead of me but I am ready for this, I’m looking forward to the challenge and I can’t wait to get started.”
Highly-rated 19 year-old midfielder Kundai Benyu joins #CelticFC from @Official_ITFC. #BenyuisaCelt
âž¡ï¸ https://t.co/o9PzTjo4Sq pic.twitter.com/IpRcG9afFs– Celtic Football Club (@celticfc) June 29, 2017
Camden-born Benyu, who spent a successful spell on loan at Aldershot last season, was offered new terms by the Blues with his contract up this summer but talks regarding a new deal broke down. Earlier in the summer, Tottenham, West Ham and Aston Villa were also reported to be interested.
Speaking about Benyu’s situation at the first day of pre-season training on Monday, manager Mick McCarthy said: "He is [out of contract]. He’s free to do, well, he’s not free, but if he goes somewhere there’ll be compensation.”
Asked whether contract talks were still ongoing, the Blues boss added: "Well, he’s not here today, so no.”
After a difficult 2015/16 in which he admitted he had shown a poor attitude, Benyu was allowed to join Tottenham’s U19s for a NextGen tournament in Amsterdam last summer but failed to impress.
Benyu, who was an unused sub for the Town first team but without making it on to the field, subsequently apologised to McCarthy at the start of pre-season training last year and was a regular in the U23s until joining Aldershot on loan in December, where he won rave reviews as he helped the Shots into the Vanarama National League play-offs.