Moussa Sissoko has insisted he never wanted to leave Tottenham throughout his two and a half years with the club, despite his struggles for first team football in his first two seasons leading to speculation to the contrary.
Sissoko arrived from Newcastle as a £30m signing in 2016 but he struggled to hit the ground running, quickly becoming a scapegoat for many supporters and pundits, and found himself frozen out of the team for large spells.
Now 29, he has established himself as a first team regular - but he said in an interview with The Telegraph that his time in London has helped him grow as a player and as a person, and that he never wanted to leave even when he was struggling.
“I can say the level here is higher than it was at Toulouse and Newcastle, the competition for places greater and I have become a better player. Not just a better player, a better man. I learnt: ‘I can complain, but I have no right to complain’. That’s what I mean by becoming a better man.
“But I never thought I wanted to leave or would leave. Since I have been playing football my agent has been my uncle and we speak nearly every day. He said ‘maybe you are having a difficult time right now but you are capable of doing better. Stay calm, keep working and do what you have to do and it will change’.
"That’s what I have done. We can say I was right to do that.”
Sissoko and Spurs host Leicester at the weekend as they look to keep the pressure on Liverpool and Manchester City, before the Champions League last 16 visit of Borussia Dortmund during the week.
Source : 90min