Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko has revealed that Daniel Levy labelled him a ‘fool’ for wanting to go back to Russia in 2012.
Pavlyuchenko was bought by Spurs in the summer of 2008 on the back of his impressive performances for Russia in Euro 2008.
The striker took his time to adapt to English football but became a bit of a cult-hero among the White Hart Lane faithful.
The Russian international was never one of the first names on the teamsheet at Spurs but he certainly knew where the back of the net was and scored some important goals during his three and a half years in North London.
He found opportunities extremely limited after Emmanuel Adebayor arrived in 2011 and departed in the subsequent January.
The striker has previously claimed that the Lilywhites rejected approaches from both Liverpool and Sunderland for his signature (Timur Crane’s YouTube channel).
The 38-year-old has now revealed how the Spurs chairman frowned at his desire to sign for Lokomotiv Moscow.
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Pavlyuchenko told Sports Wave Festival (as relayed by Tribal Football): “Even Levy told me: ‘You are a fool. How can I leave England for Russia?’
“I replied: ‘I don’t know, let me go’. A few months later I was so sorry.
“When the artificial fields went, I saw two thousand fans in the stadium. I wanted to go home, there was not enough communication, Russian food.
“Back then Dick Advocaat told me: ‘Pav, you are not playing Tottenham now, I won’t call you’. Well, let’s go, we played in 2012. It was scary to return to Russia.”
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Pavlyuchenko was technically up there with the best finishers we have had in recent times. However, he didn’t quite have enough to his game to be a regular for a top side in the Premier League. As is the case with Russians, he seemed quite homesick and it wasn’t surprising to see him return to Russia in 2012 despite still being in his prime.
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