Get the latest NUFC transfer and takeover news straight to your inbox for FREE by signing up to our newsletter Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Andros Townsend is on the verge of completing his move to Newcastle after the clubs agreed a £12m fee today.

The winger is a well-known figure in football, having established himself as an emerging talent at White Hart Lane, before earning himself a place in Roy Hodgson’s England squad.

But how much do you know about Townsend?

Here are 12 facts you may not have known about the 24 year-old winger:

He was born in Leytonstone, North East London, in 1991. David Beckham was also born here (as was Alfred Hitchcock). Townsend played for Ridgeway Rovers as a youngster, the same club as Beckham and Harry Kane.

His favourite player when he was growing up was former Spurs and Newcastle midfielder David Ginola. “I’ve always liked the flair players – the ones who get the crowd on to their feet,” he said.

He played against new team-mate Jonjo Shelvey, who was at Charlton, when they were both youngsters. “I remember that game, I scored a hat-trick!” Townsend recalled.

When Townsend was 10, his older brother Kurtis – who was 18 – died in a car crash when travelling to a play a game for Cheshunt FC. On the tenth anniversary of his death, Townsend scored for Tottenham in a Europa League match away to Shamrock Rovers in Dublin. “Kurtis would’ve been looking down and smiling,” he said.

In 2011 a video emerged of Townsend singing ‘Stand By Me’ by Ben E King with his Spurs’ team-mates. It now has nearly half a million views on YouTube.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

His girlfriend, former Big Brother contestant Hazel O’Sullivan, accosted him after seeing online that he had been fined for not turning up to Spurs’ training. In reality, the supposed ‘news’ was a screenshot from the Football Manager computer game.

He had a public spat with former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson. The Sky Sports pundit criticised Townsend’s call-up to the England squad in March, saying that in a recent game for Spurs he was “one of the worst players on the pitch”. Townsend scored the equaliser soon after coming on as a second-half sub against Italy and tweeted afterwards: “Not bad for a player that should be ‘nowhere near the squad’ ay @PaulMerse?”. His father, Troy, also tweeted: “Oh ye of little faith £Merson Get in...........”.

His paternal grandparents are from Jamaica and came to the UK in the 1960s as part of the ‘Empire Windrush’ wave of immigration. On his mother’s side he has Cypriot heritage.

Spurs, the club he supported, as an eight-year-old. At the age of 15 he was released – but was brought back just two days later when his old coaches were replaced and the new ones recalled him.

In June 2013 he served a one-month ban for breaching the FA’s betting rules. He placed several bets on fixtures in which he wasn’t directly involved, but competitions in which he was. There was never any suggestion of match fixing, just naivety. “It all started while watching games in my hotel room,” he said. “I was bored and there were TV ads promoting bets you could have on the matches I was watching... Speaking honestly, there was never anything sinister going on. There was no match-fixing, no betting on my team to lose, no inside information.”

His favourite film is Snatch, the Guy Ritchie comedy set in the London criminal underworld, starring Jason Statham and Brad Pitt.

He’s a fan of Pokemon, the Japanese gaming franchise. He often watches DVDs of it on the way to games.