Tottenham striker confirms he rejected Chelsea
What's the story?
Fernando Llorente has gone ahead and revealed why he rejected a move to Chelsea on deadline day and joined Tottenham Hotspur instead. According to The Metro, the 32-year-old striker decided to join Tottenham following a phone conversation he had with Mauricio Pochettino.
The Spanish striker said, ‘Chelsea have been after me for a long time.'
‘But at the very last minute Pochettino called me and convinced me to join.'
‘The Tottenham project is impressive. They have done very well in the last few years and I think I fit very well with this project. I think I can help them a lot.’
In case you didn't know...
Chelsea had quite a disappointing outing in the transfer market on deadline day. Llorente was one of the players who was tipped for a move to Stamford Bridge.
This would have led to a reunion between Conte and Llorente as the Italian tactician had earlier worked with Llorente during his stint at Juventus.
Llorente made his debut for Tottenham in their opening Champions League fixture against Borussia Dortmund. He has had no trouble adjusting to life in England and teammate Hugo Lloris has opined that it feels like Llorente has been there for a long time.
The heart of the matter
Ever since Antonio Conte asked Diego Costa to pack his bags and move out of Stamford Bridge, Chelsea had been on the lookout for a new striker.
They made a move for Romelu Lukaku but Manchester United stole a march on Conte's men and scooped up the big Belgian. Chelsea shifted their focus to landing Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid. After pulling off that move, Chelsea still had a lot to do as they lacked the kindof squad depth they'd ideally need as they make their return to Europe's elite competition, Champions League.
On deadline day, Chelsea were snubbed by quite a few of their targets. Oxlade-Chamberlain chose to move to Liverpool after Arsenal and Chelsea had reportedly agreed a fee. Ross Barkley was close to sealing a move to West London but decided against it ultimately.
Fernando Llorente was expected to reunite with Conte at Chelsea. However, Mauricio Pochettino convinced the former Juve striker to become a part of his project at North London.
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Author's Take
Chelsea already had Alvaro Morata and Michy Batshuayi leading their attacking line. Llorente was anyway going to get more game time at Spurs. It seems to me that the 32-year-old made the right decision.