Teenage forward opens up of why he rejected Spurs for Swansea

Joel Asoro has revealed he spurned the chance to join Tottenham this summer in favour of a move to Swansea.

The 19-year-old forward found himself in high demand this summer after confirming he would leave Sunderland upon their relegation to League 1, with a host of clubs scrambling for his signature.

Our story back in July revealed both Derby and Arsenal were looking to land him, but the Swede has now confirmed it was Tottenham who came closest to landing him, prior to his move to Liberty Stadium.

Explaining, however, why he chose not to move to the Premier League giants and instead move into the Championship, the teenager told Swedish newspaper Sportbladet: “We sat talking to Tottenham and they said they could not promise anything about playing time.”

Feeling his career could be hindered if he played second fiddle to the likes of Harry Kane and Son-min Heung, Asoro continued: “Then I felt I could not make that choice. If I want to compete seriously while playing for the under-21 national team, I need to play in my club team.”

Asoro has featured three times for the Swans under new manager Graham Potter but is yet to open his account for the club.

The failure to land Asoro contributed towards a blank summer for Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino.

 

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