by 
Jose Mourinho has
revealed Christian Eriksen informed him he would be leaving on the day he
started his reign as Tottenham manager. Eriksen, who signed for Spurs in 2013,
ended his stay in north London earlier this week when he signed for Serie A
giants Inter.
The Denmark midfielder,
who made his Inter debut in a 2-1 Coppa Italia win over Fiorentina on
Wednesday, refused to sign a new contract at Tottenham and only had six months
remaining on his deal.
Mourinho has
acknowledged Eriksen was playing like a man without motivation during the last
few months of his Tottenham stay, though insisted there were no doubts over the
27-year-old’s professionalism. “We didn’t tell because of a moral agreement
with Christian, but from the first day I arrived last November, he told me he
was not going to sign,” Mourinho, whose side face Manchester City on Sunday,
told reporters. “So then it was for me and Mr Levy to manage the situation for
me to have a player without great motivation but still a good sense of
professionalism and respect for the club and Mr. Levy, on the business side,
managed to do a great deal with six months left on the contract. “I tried to
persuade Toby Alderweireld when Toby told me he was having some doubts about
re-signing but Christian told me the decision was made and no way. “From that
moment, I was just trying to build the team without him. That was the reason
why I didn’t play him many, many times. At the same time, I knew Christian with
some limitations there are always limitations with a player in his situation
who would try until his last day to help the team.
“Christian was a good guy in the dressing room, with the
limitations of somebody that wants to leave. You could feel in some matches he
was not Christian. “We were happy to have him here until the end of the season.
Christian would always give us some of his talents until the end of the season.
But then it becomes about the future of the team and the future of the team
needs the deal that Mr Levy made.” Spurs reinvested the funds received from
Eriksen’s sale into signing Netherlands international Steven Bergwijn from PSV,
while Gedson Fernandes came in on an 18-month loan from Benfica earlier in the
window. However, the club – who also allowed Danny Rose to leave on loan to
Newcastle United – reportedly failed in a late bid to bring in striker Eran
Zahavi from Guangzhou R&F to help ease the strain caused by Harry Kane’s
hamstring injury.
Source: Fotmob
