Belgian reveals he left Spurs as Mauricio Pochettino ‘no longer counted’ on him

Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nacer Chadli has revealed that he left the club after Mauricio Pochettino made it clear to him that he was no longer part of his plans.

Chadli moved to north London in a £7million deal from Dutch outfit FC Twente in the summer of 2013 (Guardian) and went on to make 119 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring 25 goals (transfermarkt).

The winger ended up moving up to West Bromwich Albion in August 2016 for £13million, having not been included in the match day squad for any of Tottenham’s opening few fixtures of the 2016/27 campaign (Sky Sports).

Chadli had a solid start to life with the Baggies during his first season, only for injuries to hamper his time at the Hawthorns and ended up moving to Monaco in 2018.

The Belgian international now plays his football in his homeland for K.V.C. Westerlo on loan from Turkish Super Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir.

Chadli, 33, told Het Laatste Niuews when asked if his career has been on a downward trend since leaving White Hart Lane: “And yet I don’t regret anything,”

“I left Tottenham because I wanted to play more – that didn’t work out there at the end. The coach (Mauricio Pochettino) no longer counted on me.

“That first year at West Brom was super, but in my second season I was almost constantly injured, and we got relegated (sigh) Those injuries didn’t help me.”

SpursWeb Opinion

Chadli was a solid squad player for Tottenham but found himself behind the likes of Erik Lamela and Andros Townsend in the pecking order.

His goal away at Newcastle in the 2013/14 season was arguably his best for the club and it was something of a shame that he was unable to hit the same heights consistently with the likes of West Brom, however, Pochettino always knew when the right time was to move on some of his players.

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