Club chief reveals he had agreement to sign Spurs player before Conte blocked it

The CEO of Cremonese, Paolo Armenia has revealed that the Serie A club’s efforts to sign Pape Matar Sarr have been thwarted by Antonio Conte.

Sarr has made the matchday squad for just one of Tottenham’s four matches so far this season and the midfielder is yet to make his debut for the North London club.

Fabrizio Romano reported last week that Spurs were confident of finding the right loan move for the Senegal international before the transfer window shuts and added that several Serie A clubs were keen on signing the youngster.

However, Gianluca Di Marzio revealed on Monday that Tottenham had decided to take Sarr off the market after Rodrigo Bentancur sustained a concussion in the clash against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

Armenia has now explained that Cremonese had agreed on a deal to sign the former Metz star on loan before Conte stepped in to stop the transfer.

The chief of the newly promoted Serie A club told CuoreGrigiorosso: “We had an agreement in principle with Sarr of Tottenham but then an injury led Conte to stop everything.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I doubt it was just Bentancur’s concussion that led to Spurs reversing their stance on Sarr. The doubts regarding Oliver Skipp’s return to full fitness might have also played a part in Conte deciding not to risk letting the teenager leave. One would expect Spurs to sanction a loan move for the 19-year-old in the January window.

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