Ruslan Malinovskyi told he dodged a bullet by not joining Tottenham Hotspur

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Ruslan Malinovskyi is better off at Marseille than at Antonio Conte’s underachieving Tottenham Hotspur outfit, former Premier League scout Pavel Kucherov tells FanDay. 

Is it any coincidence that Spurs appeared to drop their interest in the former Atalanta playmaker after Bryan Gil produced his finest performance in English football?

The Spaniard’s silky display during Tottenham’s 4-0 crushing of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park had a real ‘coming of age’ sort of vibe to it; Gil proving at last that he can be relied upon to step into Dejan Kulusevski’s shoes and make a real impression in a Premier League fixture. 

Tottenham were expected to make a move for Malinovskyi during the January transfer window; Tuttomercatoweb reporting that both Conte and director Fabio Paratici of the belief that the 29-year-old Ukraine international would be the ideal addition to a squad lacking serious depth in the forward positions, and set to lose Lucas Moura on a free transfer.

The timing of Gil’s emergence worked wonders for Marseille, then. The Ligue 1 giants given a relatively free run at a player who made his full OM debut during the recent 3-1 triumph over FC Lorient. 

Ruslan Malinovskyi joined Marseille after Tottenham Hotspur links

“I think the Premier League is a bit high for Malinovsky. At Tottenham, it would be very difficult for him to become a player in the first-team,” explains Kucherov, who spent four years in England as a scout at Arsenal and Everton.

“In Marseille, he will receive a lot of playing time.”

Malinovskyi joins Marseille on loan, with a £9 million obligation-to-buy clause in his contract. Fabrizio Romano reported a few days after Christmas that the one-time Genk favourite would have jumped at the opportunity to join former Atalanta team-mate Cristian Romero in North London.

Though Malinovskyi is keen to point out that he does not see Marseille as little more than a consolation prize. 

“I said yes right away,” Malinovskyi explains. “OM was the most concrete offer. I had no doubts. We were able to talk about me (moving to) England, but it was not concrete.”