Kieran Trippier admits he wanted to stay at Tottenham

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Former Tottenham Hotspur defender Kieran Trippier has opened up about the discussions with Mauricio Pochettino before his move to Atletico Madrid.

Former Tottenham star Kieran Trippier was quoted by the Independent as he claimed that Mauricio Pochettino’s side were too hasty to sell him to Atletico Madrid this summer.

Trippier moved to the Spanish capital for a fee reported to be around £20 million and his performances for Diego Simeone’s side have been hugely impressive. The Englishman has been picked by Gareth Southgate for England’s double-header against Bulgaria and Kosovo in the coming days.

Speaking about his shock transfer to Atleti in the summer, Trippier claimed that he didn’t get a firm answer from Pochettino or Spurs chairman Daniel Levy when they had conversations with him during pre-season. The full-back also admitted that he wanted to stay but the club’s impression left him no choice but to consider his options.

He said: “I had a conversation with the manager, a meeting with the chairman to see what my future was and I didn’t get the impression that they wanted to keep me. It is football. It happens. It’s not nice when you know the club want to sell you, it’s not nice, but that’s football, it happens.”

“He (Pochettino) didn’t say he wanted to move me on. I tried to speak to the chairman about it. I spoke to the manager about his plans and I didn’t get a yes and I didn’t get a no. So you get the impression. It’s disappointing. I gave everything for the club and I wanted to stay, I had another couple of years left, but everything happens for a reason,” said Trippier.

Spurs have struggled in Trippier’s position with centre-half Davinson Sanchez playing there in the North London derby against Arsenal on Sunday. Holding onto him would definitely have been a smarter move but Tottenham’s loss is Simeone’s gain as he has found a perfect successor for Juanfran on the right-hand side.

The 28-year-old has had an unbeaten start to his La Liga career so far after three games and has an assist to his name already. With Real Madrid on a bit of a slump, Atleti have a massive chance to take advantage of their local rivals’ misery and Trippier will have a massive part to play if they were to achieve that this season.