The Tottenham Hotspur striker could have joined Chelsea in the summer.
Spurs summer signing Fernando Llorente has shared why he chose to join the Lilywhites over Chelsea, during an exclusive interview with Spanish media outlet Marca.
The 32-year-old moved to Tottenham from Swansea City for a fee believed to be in the region of £12 million on transfer deadline day, but is still waiting to register his first goal for the club.
The former Juventus and Athletic Bilbao man could have moved to west London in the summer instead, but eventually opted to join Mauricio Pochettino’s revolution at Spurs.
Fernando Llorente of Tottenham Hotspur comes on for Serge Aurier
And the Spaniard divulged the reasons behind rejecting a move to link up with his former manager Antonio Conte at Chelsea, during an exclusive interview with Spanish publication Marca:
“It was a difficult decision to make. Pochettino called me on the 30th of August and I was attracted by his project. I thought I would have joined Chelsea but in the end Tottenham were quicker to reach an agreement with Swansea and they signed me. I’d have joined Chelsea but for all these reasons I eventually joined Spurs. I knew Pochettino. I knew he worked well at Espanyol and Southampton. He changed everything at Tottenham in three years. He is such a great manager, the project is amazing here. I am really happy to have joined Tottenham.”
The problem for Llorente at Tottenham is that when Harry Kane is fit and available for selection he will undoubtedly always start, making the 32-year-old’s route into the first-team an extremely challenging one.
This makes it all the more important for the talented hitman to make his mark when given the chance by Pochettino this season.
Next up for Llorente and Spurs is a trip to Spain to take on the mighty Real Madrid, where anything other than a defeat will be seen as a positive result.
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