AZ Alkmaar director Max Huiberts claims Tottenham are ‘tough negotiators’.
Vincent Janssen scores for the Netherlands from the penalty spot
AZ Alkmaar technical director Max Huiberts has told the club’s official website that he is ‘very satisfied’ with Vincent Janssen’s move to Tottenham – even though negotiations with Spurs were tough.
Tottenham confirmed earlier today that they have snapped up striker Janssen on a four-year deal after weeks of speculation, with BBC Sport reporting a fee of £17m.
Having landed Victor Wanyama earlier this summer, the main priority for manager Mauricio Pochettino was to add another striker to his ranks, with an exhausted Harry Kane starting every single Premier League game last season.
Now, Pochettino has brought in another goalscorer in Janssen, following a quite remarkable season in the Eredivisie. Having signed for AZ from Almere City last summer, Janssen endured a slow, frustrating start to life in the top flight of Dutch football, but he ended the campaign as the league’s top scorer with 27 goals.
Having also hit three goals in five games for the Netherlands national team – including one against England at Wembley – Janssen was enjoyed a whirlwind year, and will now head to White Hart Lane in order to compete with leading goalscorer Kane.
The deal comes after plenty of speculation, with AZ technical director Max Huiberts telling Noordhollands Dagblad last week that he has rejected one bid from Tottenham for Janssen, and hadn’t heard back from Spurs in terms of a second bid.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is a famously difficult negotiator, and will always look for a way to get the very best deal for his club, whether that’s extracting as much money from sales as possible, or attempting to drive prices down for targets.
Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy
Many fans have criticised his methods as Spurs have missed out on some targets over the years, but he’s managed to land Janssen having looked like losing him last month, with PSG making a move for the striker according to L’Equipe.
Now, AZ’s Huiberts has admitted that negotiations with Tottenham and Levy were ‘tough’, but he’s happy with the end result, and wished Janssen ‘every success’ in London, even though it’s unfortunate for AZ to lose a player of his quality.
“Tottenham is a tough negotiator, but we are very satisfied with the end result,” said Huiberts. “On the one hand, AZ are proud of this transfer, but on the other hand, it is unfortunate that we lose a player of this calibre and with this personality. However, we wish him every success in London,” he added.
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