‘It was a good time’ – Jenas opens up on how his move to Spurs unfolded – Spurs Web

Jermaine Jenas is arguably more famous these days for his work as a pundit with the former Tottenham midfielder having excelled in his media career where he now appears in both sporting and mainstream shows since retiring from the game.

However, things were not all smooth sailing for Jenas during his playing days with the midfielder somewhat of a divisive figure among the Tottenham fan base.

The 37-year-old, who spent seven years at Tottenham, had his ups and downs during his time in North London and while he put in a number of excellent displays, he never managed to be as consistent as he would have wanted.

The former England international was part of a transitional period at Tottenham as he played under Martin Jol, Juande Ramos and Harry Redknapp when the Lilywhites started to grow into a force.

Jenas was very highly rated as a young player at Newcastle, even managing to win the PFA Young Player of the Year in 2002/03.

The former midfielder has now opened up on how his move from the Magpies to Spurs unfolded.

He revealed that the transfer was pre-planned and that he wanted to be a part of the project Spurs were building despite rumours of interest from their North London rivals Arsenal.

The midfielder told The Mirror regarding his deadline day move to White Hart Lane: “It’s something that has been planned out – you don’t just get the phone call on deadline day, although sometimes it does workout like that.

“My move to Tottenham was a lot more premeditated. I wasn’t 100 per cent happy with the way things were developing at Newcastle and my career wasn’t being looked after in the way I wanted it to.

“That year I was looking to go to the World Cup, I was getting messed about and didn’t see it being a good year.

“There was rumours of Arsenal being interested, but I knew Tottenham were always there. It was just a matter of just getting it over the line.

“I was away with England, got the call to say it would be Tottenham and thought that would be a good challenge, lets go.

“I knew they had a good group of young players at the time. It was a good time to be part of a new project. But at the end of the day it is a players decision, if they don’t want to go somewhere they can always say no.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Towards the end of his career at Spurs, Jeans often became the scapegoat for fans to vent their frustrations. However, I will always have a soft spot for him due to the fact that he always turned up in the North London Derby. His best performance in a Spurs shirt was arguably during Tottenham’s 5-1 win over Arsenal in the semifinals of 2008 League Cup campaign as he absolutely tore Arsene Wenger’s side to shreds that evening.

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