Crystal Palace midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur wanted to sign him when he was at West Ham United but he hesitated in completing a move to the North Londoners.
Kouyate made a great start to life in the Premier League after arriving at West Ham from Anderlecht in the summer of 2014.
The midfielder established himself as an important part of the Hammers midfield in his first season at Upton Park and looked set to be destined for a big move.
However, that never arrived and he fell out of favour at West Ham, before eventually being sold to Crystal Palace in 2018 for an £11million fee (Guardian).
The 30-year-old has had a couple of solid seasons for the Eagles since then but it is fair to say that his career has not delivered what it had promised a few years ago.
In an interview with Belgian publication DH, the midfielder has admitted that he regretted hesitating when Spurs came in for him a few years ago.
Kouyate is quoted as saying: “Tottenham wanted to sign me. I was being pushed to go there, but I hesitated.
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“Slaven Bilic was my manager and wanted to keep me at West Ham, who were offering me a great contract.
“We’d come out of a good season after often being in the relegation zone. I preferred to stay.
“I changed clubs a bit later. Maybe too late. I could tell that to young player: a big club doesn’t always come twice”.
Spurs Web Opinion
I was a fan of Kouyate when he first arrived in the Premier League and can certainly see why Spurs wanted to sign him at the time. However, in hindsight, it was probably a blessing in disguise for us that the midfielder did not want to complete the move. His career trajectory since then suggests that he would have not been good enough for Spurs given our ambitions.
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