Head of Arsenal's youth development, Liam Brady, hailed the decision from a FA Premiership tribunal today, ordering West Ham United to pay GBP 400,000 for teenage midfielder Leon Britton.

Brady said to Soccernet: 'It will make clubs think long and hard in the future before they sign a youngster who is at another club. It will be of particular reassurance to the smaller clubs, ones outside the Premiership, who rely heavily on producing their own players.

'We made Leon what we considered to be a good offer but West Ham offered more. But we have had him since he was 10 years of age and this is, for me, a benchmark judgement.'

The tribunal decision means that the fee for Britton can rise to GBP 1,5 million, depending on appearances.