Striker Fernando Llorente greatly surprised many in the football world when he snubbed a move to Chelsea FC, and instead choose a transfer to Tottenham Hotspur. Llorente left Swansea City for Spurs in an eleventh hour deadline day move worth £12 million.
He was an underrated but very key making this summer transfer window as he gives Spurs that back-up to Harry Kane that they have been seeking for a very long time. He made his Tottenham debut last night as a substitute as the north London side began their UEFA Champions League campaign with a 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund.
Llorente told La Vanguardia after the match that it was Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino who made the move happen.
“The truth is that Chelsea have been after me for a long time but at the end you know how this works,” Llorente said.
“At the very last minute, Pochettino called me and convinced me. The Tottenham project is impressive. They have done very well in the last few years, and I think I fit very well with this project. I think I can help them a lot.”
Llorente then referenced playing against Pochettino 12 years ago, when he was with Athletic Bilbao, and Pochettino was then managing Espanyol.
“It is clear that Pochettino played a very important role in the decision. I have known him since he was playing in Spain. I made my first-team debut against him at San Mames. He was at the end of his playing career and I was at the beginning of mine.
“Then he was the Espanyol manager and I faced him several more times. Now I play under him at Tottenham and I really want to give my best.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now and Minute Media. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.