Tottenham Hotspur academy graduate Luis Binks is now playing for Montreal Impact, after leaving the club in January.
Luis Binks has told the Daily Mail that Jose Mourinho urged him not to leave Tottenham Hotspur.
Binks departed Tottenham for Montreal Impact in the January transfer window, with the 18-year-old looking for more regular first-team football.
But he says Mourinho was actually keen for him to stick around at Spurs.
“I told the academy staff I was leaving and they said, ‘We’ll get Mourinho here’. He said how much he liked me, that I would be going on pre-season and, if I did well, I could play a few games next year,” Binks revealed.
“That made the decision even tougher, but it also reassured me that, if I’m good enough, I will get to the top.
“I didn’t want to take the risk of waiting for something that might never come. You then get to 21 and you still haven’t played.”
Binks was always highly regarded at Tottenham, and was considered one of the better talents in their youth set-up.
However, the centre-back had not been given any first-team chances at Spurs, and decided that his development would be better served by moving to MLS.
Binks has already made two starts for Montreal since joining the Canadian side, which may justify his decision to leave Spurs.
If Binks had stayed at Tottenham he may have been in with a chance of breaking into their first-team though.
Spurs have hardly looked secure at the back this season, with Mourinho trying a number of different options in central defence.
Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Japhet Tanganga, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen have all played at centre-back for Tottenham this term, but Mourinho is yet to find a really reliable partnership.
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