Striker claims Spurs were interested in him during January window
Tottenham Hotspur were linked with a seemingly endless plethora of strikers in the January transfer window following the injury to Harry Kane on New Years Day.
Spurs announced that Kane had ruptured his hamstring tendon in his left leg and required surgery to fix the issue, meaning he would be out of first-team training until early April.
With no other senior striker at the club, following the outgoings of Vincent Janssen and Fernando Llorente last summer, Mourinho has been forced to make do with Heung Min Son and Lucas Moura.
However, it has now been revealed that Spurs were apparently interested in Russian striker Artem Dzyuba from Zenit St Petersburg in January.
The striker has scored 12 goals in 23 games this season, and 64 in 161 games in total for Zenit. His career goals total is at 142 goals in 415 games (Wikipedia).
The striker himself claimed that the interest was there, and believes it may have come from Mourinho himself. Dzyuba added that, although people made contact about a Spurs move, he thinks if the Lilywhites were serious, they would have made more of an effort.
He told Russia 24 (Relayed by Daily Mail): “Last winter (2019), representatives of agent Jorges Mendes came, for two hours we talked and discussed.
“They had a ready-made offer: Everton. I could not leave, because we were going for the championship. For me it was a cherished desire, because in Russia I had not won it yet. For me then it was important to stay.
“Frankly speaking, there were no specifics in the summer after the championship. There were other countries, but it was not from England… and that was a priority.
“I did not want to be pushed into the conditional Wolverhampton or Newcastle at the end. If you go somewhere, then fight, and not through some kind of connection: “Take it” – that would be ugly. Still, I want them to be interested.
“This winter, I see someone saying something. But nobody knows anything. Indeed, when Harry Kane at Tottenham broke down, people contacted me. From Jose Mourinho, as I understand it. But it was the New Year holidays, so Zenit said no. And that’s all.
“If Tottenham really wanted me, then I think they would be more insistent. That said, the interest was really there.”
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