Sissoko in last-minute Spurs deal
ToTTenham last night dramatically pipped everton to the £30million signing of moussa Sissoko from newcastle.
The deal was confirmed by Sissoko on his Twitter account just two minutes before the 11pm transfer deadline after a day of frenzied pursuit by Spurs and everton.
The 27-year-old tweeted a picture of himself in a Spurs shirt after agreeing a five-year deal, before any official confirmation from the clubs.
The France midfielder had been desperate for a move away from newcastle since the club was relegated in may but this saga reached a dramatic conclusion.
newcastle began the day demanding £30m from all potential suitors - although they were prepared to accept the payment being made in instalments to help smooth over any deal. as a result, the club have secured a £28.5m profit on a player they signed from Toulouse for only £1.5m in 2013.
They initially agreed a fee with everton, only for the merseyside club to withdraw their interest in the final hour of the window. Spurs initially bid just £18m but when they returned with a better offer late in the day, the player was keen to join mauricio Pochettino’s side to play in the Champions League this season. he travelled to London to undergo a medical and completed the deal with minutes to spare.
his stock skyrocketed after he impressed in the euro- pean Championship. But as he wakes up this morning, Sissoko may first have to confront a diplomatic crisis in north London. In an interview with the French media this summer, he spoke of his admiration for fierce rivals arsenal. ‘When I was young, arsenal were the club of my heart, because there were quite a few French players there like Thierry henry, Robert Pires, Sylvain Wiltord, Patrick Vieira who was my idol,’ he said. ‘The beautiful arsenal. We will see. (But) I cannot tell you if I am going to go to arsenal.’ everton’s failure to land Sissoko had a knock- on effect of denying James mcCarthy the chance to move to Crystal Palace on loan. everton had been in talks with napoli for striker manolo Gabbiadini but they could not agree a deal; it led them to turn their attentions to West ham striker enner Valencia, who has joined for a season on loan. Valencia, 26, could yet join everton on a permanent deal, with everton having the option to buy him for £14.5m. Tottenham also finally signed 21- year- old winger Georges- Kevin n’Koudou from marseille for £9.9m and brought in espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez on a season-long loan. Cameroonian forward Clinton n’Jie left Spurs for marseille on loan.