Spurs were reportedly keen to bring Josh Maja to the Premier League before he left Sunderland for Ligue 1 with Bordeaux.
Josh Maja has spoken to AFP this week to explain why he decided to leave Sunderland for Bordeaux in January despite interest from a number of Premier League clubs.
The striker scored 16 goals in the first half of the season for The Black Cats but, with his contract due to expire in the summer and with the youngster having rejected a new deal, they had little choice but to sell when Bordeaux came in with an offer of £3.5 million.
But why hid the homegrown talent choose to continue his career across The Channel?
“I just felt I’d get more opportunities abroad, so that was the main reason I left and I thought in France, at Bordeaux, I’d get an opportunity to make a name for myself and go from there,” Maja said.
At the age of 20, Maja needs first-team football to hone his talents and maybe this is why a move Tottenham, where he would have found himself stuck on the bench or even in the reserves with Harry Kane clearly established as the club’s first-choice, was always unlikely.
The Express reported in January that Maja was a target but while Mauricio Pochettino has a fine record when it comes to aiding young players, there are plenty of examples of promising talents moving to a Premier League club and seeing their development stall.
Maybe this is what Maja was worried about. If he wants to play regularly, Tottenham would not have been the right move at this stage of his career.
Ironically enough, however, Maja has started life at Bordeaux out of the starting XI.
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