Moussa Sissoko’s latest comments will be music to the ears of Tottenham Hotspur fans.
Sissoko signed for Spurs last summer from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day. The French midfielder cost £30m, a club record fee for Spurs. Despite transfer fees increasing with every passing transfer window, this was a peculiar one and the fee instantly seemed excessive.
Sissoko hadn’t exactly set the world alight for Newcastle when they were relegated, and reports of him impressing at Euro 2016 were grossly overestimated. He went on a few surging runs, and briefly put an effort in when the cameras were on him.
However, he was the reincarnation of Johan Cruyff at the Euros in comparison to his performances for Spurs last season. It quickly became obvious that Mauricio Pochettino’s team had bought a turkey.
Sissoko made 25 appearances in the league, but only eight starts and failed to find the back of the net. Spurs had their best ever Premier League season, finishing second behind Chelsea with 86 points, but their big money signing didn’t improve the squad.
He was the captain of our ‘let-down XI’ for the 2016/17 season.
They promised a lot… they didn't deliver https://t.co/fOQFFEVz5S
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 22, 2017
If Spurs fans were worried that Sissoko was going to stick around and try fight for their place, they need not be afraid.
The 27-year-old has been speaking to L’Equipe, and has admitted that he’s prepared to leave the club in search of first team football.
“The idea is to be clear very early to allow, if I need to leave, for my agent to do good work,” Sissoko said, rightly recognising the importance of his agent, who is clearly the Lionel Messi of agents, a genius who managed to get Daniel Levy to fork out a club record for his player.
Sissoko said he is open to the idea of playing in his native France.
“Even if everyone knows that I prefer England, I have never closed the door to any league,” the midfielder said.
“We will see what the offers are, but Ligue 1 continues to be attractive. We have seen this year with PSG and Monaco, but also teams like Nice, Lyon and Marseille.
“We will analyse everything and try to make the best choice.”
Sissoko also said that his manager “should say it” if he “thinks that other players are better” and that he had “the worst season” of his career last season.
Everything points to a summer transfer for Sissoko, and to Spurs moving on and never speaking of this episode again.
