Former Tottenham star Brooklyn Lyons-Foster has explained his choice to leave the club.

The 23-year-old moved on from the club last month, having been a mainstay for the U21s in the past few years.

Lyons-Foster has headed to Finland to play for HJK Helsinki on a two year deal.

"Tottenham is of course a club dear to me. I have spent more than half of my life there, growing both as a player and as a person," he said after joining Helsinki.

"It certainly felt strange for a while that I'm not representing Tottenham anymore, but on the other hand, it's wonderful to be able to start my own journey now. I'm really, really excited about this opportunity and can't wait to get started."

He added: "Of course, it was a big disappointment [not breaking into the first team], but I believe that there is a reason for everything. Now I am happy to be able to start in a new club with a long and successful history and European games and a fight for the championship ahead.

"It's great and exciting to be part of such a club, and hats off to you people in the club. The transfer and the entire process related to it was really smooth and comfortable in every way."