Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Moussa Sissoko wanted to leave Tottenham Hotspur during the summer.
The £30million signing from Newcastle United failed to make an impact at his new club after making the switch to London on the final day of the 2016 summer transfer window.
Sissoko only managed eight Premier League starts last season and became the brunt of many Tottenham fans frustration for his poor performances.
The French international put his poor form down to the fact that he had not had a full pre-season following his nation’s involvement in Euro 2016 and now feels that he’s fully fit.
Pochettino has praised Sissoko for his response and now feels that the midfielder is starting to show the form which made Spurs buy him in the first place.
Reading into Poch’s quotes below it looks as if no offers were received for Sissoko, hence why he is still at the club.
Pochettino told the press: “The player was the first interested to move because he wanted to play more in a season that has the World Cup at the end.
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“But I think maybe that possibility didn’t exist and I was more than happy for him to stay and give him the possibility to play.
“It’s always a decision between the player and the club and for him, in this case, he didn’t play too much last season.
“Always the player is looking to move, to try to feel better and try to be important, maybe at another club.
“And always the club is sensitive in every single situation but in the end, when we decided to keep him and he decided to stay with us.
“It’s about moving on and seeing if he deserves to have the possibility to play.”
“It was a big problem for him arriving at the end of the transfer window, two months after the start of pre-season.
“Sometimes you struggle to understand what the people expect from you and maybe that took a little bit longer than another player.
“But since he decided to stay here this season, he has tried to convince me to give him the possibility to play more.
“Today he is more confident in his skills and himself and the team-mates trust him more. He improved his self belief and that is so important for a player.
“When you arrive in a new club and you don’t play too much and you struggle to understand it is normal that your self belief starts to go down and it is difficult to recover from that.
“But today we are so happy that he is doing well.
“The price tag was another thing. Expectation was massive.
“Even Zidane struggled in Real Madrid when he moved from Juventus and big, big names struggle in the first season.”
Do you think Sissoko is finally ‘coming good’ at Tottenham? Let us know by having your say below
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