The England striker successfully completed a medical today before agreeing personal terms on a deal believed to be worth £9million.

That figure represents a cut-price layout for Spurs after Sunderland agreed a £12million deal with Pompey only last week.

Crouch had travelled up to the north-east and agreed personal terms with the Black Cats but, amid growing interest from Tottenham, as well as Fulham, the 28-year-old pulled out of the deal, telling the club he wanted to remain in the south.

That reinvigorated Spurs' interest and they beat off competition from their west London rivals to secure the services of a player who scored 16 times in all competitions for Pompey last term.

"We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Portsmouth for the transfer of Peter Crouch to the club, following the player successfully completing a medical examination and agreeing personal terms," a statement on Tottenham's website, www.tottenhamhotspur.com, read.

Crouch's move to White Hart Lane, where he first signed as a trainee in 1998, will also mean he again teams up with manager Harry Redknapp, who he worked under at both Portsmouth and Southampton.

Redknapp had admitted his desire to sign the player yesterday following Spurs' 2-0 Wembley Cup defeat by Celtic.

"He's different. He holds the ball up. Celtic held the ball up well but we don't do that well enough," he said.

"He gives you an option and he's played for me a few times before. He's always done a job and he's great on set-plays at both ends."

Today's announcement is also likely to end Spurs' interest in Real Madrid striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar after Redknapp had indicated he would sign either rather than both players.

Certainly it would seem to spell the end of Darren Bent's Spurs career, with the striker ironically high on Sunderland's radar following Crouch's snub.

Redknapp admitted Bent was looking to leave north London, and he was would not stand in his way.

"Darren is looking to go but it's up to people to make the offer that we want," Redknapp added after watching Bent miss three chance in what could be his final game for the club against the Hoops.

He added: "Nobody misses chances deliberately. He tucked some great chances away in pre-season and he will always score goals. He's a good player but I just want some balance and Crouchy would give us something different."

Any possible deal for Bent to move to Sunderland would, however, have to be brokered soon after Black Cats boss Steve Bruce admitted today his patience was wearing thin as they look to finalise their squad ahead of the new campaign.

"I do not know if Tottenham's deal for Peter Crouch will help us. It is one we are visiting, but we cannot wait around forever," he said.

"We are still short, a long way off in terms of our valuations at the moment. We will look at it again, but if we can't agree, we will move on.

"We are not making headway at the moment and there hasn't been any progress over the weekend."

Portsmouth released a statement this evening revealing Crouch's sale had been agreed upon to help the club meet their debt repayment obligations.

Crouch is the latest high-profile player to leave the south-coast club in the past 12 months on big-figure sums following Lassana Diarra, Jermain Defoe and Glen Johnson.

"We are sorry to see Peter go both as a player and a person and would like to thank him for playing a key role in keeping the club in the Premier League last season," the statement on the club's website, www.portsmouthfc.com, read.

"His sale was necessitated by the club's commitment to repay scheduled debts while we are in the transitional period of completing the takeover.

"We will now be looking to add fresh faces to the first-team squad as soon as possible."