Tottenham threatened to report Chelsea to FA over tapping up of 16-year-old midfielder
Nya Kirby, who is now at Crystal Palace, agreed to join Chelsea but the offer was withdrawn after Spurs threatened to report the illegal approach
TOTTENHAM recently threatened to report Chelsea to the FA for aggressively tapping up young players, it has been revealed.
The Times reports that Spurs considered filing a complaint against their London rivals for making an illegal approach to 16-year-old Nya Kirby.
As a result of the threat, Chelsea withdrew their approach and left the England youth international without a club.
Tottenham and Chelsea's loss eventually turned out to be Crystal Palace's gain as the Eagles swooped for Kirby after the incident.
Kirby was highly rated at White Hart Lane and was invited to train with the first team squad ahead of last season's Europa League clash with Borussia Dortmund, so chairman Daniel Levy was understandably annoyed at the thought of him being poached by Chelsea.
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Relations between the two clubs are at an all-time low, with Chelsea ending Tottenham's title hopes in a bad tempered 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge last season.
The two clubs have also been competing for the lease of Wembley while their respective stadiums are redeveloped and Chelsea have been particularly annoyed at Spurs being the only Premier League club to raise an objection to coach Steve Holland adopting a dual coaching role with them and England.
Spurs are one of many clubs to be worried about Chelsea's hoovering up of youngsters from other academies.
The Blues have won four of the last five FA Youth Cups but it is still rare to see players make the jump from their academy to regular first team football.
Meanwhile, negotiations between Tottenham and Crystal Palace are ongoing for a compensation fee for Kirby.