Olivier Giroud has revealed that Jose Mourinho wanted to bring him to Tottenham last season but admitted the move never felt right given his connection with Arsenal.
Giroud scored 105 goals in 253 appearances for the Gunners, spending six years at the Emirates after joining them in 2012.
The centre-forward then moved across London to Chelsea in 2017 and although he was not always the first-choice striker at Stamford Bridge, he demonstrated his class when opportunities came his way.
Tottenham were linked with a move for Giroud in January of 2020 after Harry Kane picked up a hamstring injury (Daily Mail) and the Frenchman was once again mooted as a target for the Lilywhites ahead of January 2021 (Football Insider).
However, a move to Spurs never materialised and the 35-year-old eventually joined AC Milan this summer, where he has hit the ground running with two goals in three Serie A matches so far.
Giroud has now admitted a move to the Lilywhites was an option that was on the table but insisted that he was not keen on the transfer due to his love for the Gunners.
The striker told The Daily Mirror: “Tottenham was interested and Jose Mourinho was interested. But I was so close to signing for Inter, for Lazio, I was desperate for game time.
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“Tottenham was there but, to be honest, it was not a clear option because the race for the Premier League top four made it difficult for anything to happen.
“But also in my heart, as a proper ex-Gunner, and as we always say: ‘Once a Gunner, always a Gunner.’ It would have been very weird to have played Tottenham. That’s why it didn’t happen.”
Spurs Web Opinion
One can understand why Mourinho wanted Giroud as he would have been an excellent backup to Kane and could have given us a more direct option if we were chasing games.
However, all things considered, I believe Carlos Vinicius performed that role reasonably well last season even though he did not get too many opportunities.
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