Tottenham Hotspur confirmed the signing of Cameroon forward Clinton Njié for a reorted fee of £10million from Olympique Lyonnais yesteday.
Earlier yesterday, L’equipe had reported a story saying the Arsenal were interested in signing the 22-year old attacker as they neded a striker at Emirates to provide competition to Olivier Giroud.
However, despite those rumours Spurs have gone on to the sign the “next Samuel Eto’o” on a five-year deal. Lyon had accepted a transfer fee for the striker last night with Player had already agreed personal terms with the club ahead of his move to Premier League.
On Sunday they had an interview with Njie and obviously the first question the Tottenham player was asked was about Arsenal interest “I’ve never been afraid that my transfer to Tottenham would not materialise. I never had the leaders of Arsenal on the phone, they only contacted my agent. My choice was made, I was determined to join Tottenham”, L’Equipe quotes Njie.
On why he picked Tottenham, Njie said “Here I will evolve under the orders of Mauricio Pochettino, a coach who plays youngsters and progresses. Thursday, after my arrival in London and medical tests, he greeted me with the president, Daniel Levy, to tell me he hoped I would be available as soon as possible.When I arrived in Europe, it was a goal and a dream of playing in the Premier League one day.”
But in the current scenario, every transfer is executed by agents and clubs contact the agent first rather than the player. Njie’s claim seems funny as he says Arsenal contacted his agent, not him.
Arsenal fans are saying that Arsenal’s interest in the 21 year old striker were made up stories so that Spurs fans feel proud of beating their rivals in transfer market.