According to The Athletic, Leandro Paredes had no interest in joining Tottenham in a potential swap deal with Tanguy Ndombele last month.
It was reported during the January window that Spurs had asked about Paredes in a potential swap deal, but that lead went cold not long after the initial report emerged.
However, The Athletic now report that the reason no move came to fruition was due to Paredes not wanting to join the London club.
We don’t know why Paredes has chosen to reject Spurs, but after starting just five league games this season, we have to imagine that this wasn’t purely a footballing decision.
Finances and being settled in Paris will likely have played a part in Paredes’ reasoning, but the player has every right to make those decisions for himself.
Luckily for Spurs, everything managed to work out in the end in the midfield.
Tanguy Ndombele got his move, joining Lyon on loan on deadline day, while Rodrigo Bentancur arrived in north London not long after Ndombele’s departure was announced.
Whether or not Bentancur ends up being a better signing than Paredes would have been remains to be seen, but comparisons between the pair are probably inevitable as the season progresses.
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