A surprise transfer from the youth ranks today. Tottenham Hotspur announced via social media that 20-year old utility defender, academy graduate, and full Estonian international Maksim Paskotsi has completed a transfer to Grasshopper Club Zurich in the Swiss league.
We have reached agreement with Grasshopper Club Zurich for the transfer of Maksim Paskotsi.
Good luck for the future, Maksim!
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 6, 2023
Paskotsi’s career is an interesting one because of the fact that he’s a full European international footballer, with 16 caps for his native Estonia since 2021, despite having not made his senior debut for Tottenham Hotspur. That’s a little surprising, but also tells me two things: 1) Estonia is not a very good European national football team, and 2) Spurs clearly didn’t see enough out of him to give him a chance ahead of other players currently in the U21s.
Grasshoppers doesn’t leap to the front of mind as a footballing destination — they finished 7th out 10 clubs in the Swiss Super League last season, 30 points behind champions Young Boys — but it does imply they need the defensive help, and hopefully Paskotsi can make an impact on a team that’s been plagued by defensive miscues.
Paskotsi was under contract until 2024 with an option for an additional year, so it’s interesting that the club is choosing to cash in now. There’s no information about the transfer fee but I doubt it’s very much for a young player without a senior cap. It could be that Paskotsi saw himself behind Ash Phillips and Alfie Dorrington in the U21s and took an opportunity to move to a place where he has a chance to play first team football, which would make sense. Hopefully he ends up having as good of a club career as he has internationally.
Good luck, Maksim!
