It is not unusual for Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of transfer targets to take a dramatic turn here and there, and the same can be said for the club’s quest for the signature of Brighton and Hove Albion winger Leandro Trossard.
Over the past week, Spurs’ links with the 28-year-old winger intensified (see the report on those initial links here), but a degree of cold water was poured on the Trossard flame yesterday once it had appeared that not only had Brighton no intention of selling the Belgian this month, but also that the likes of Newcastle and Chelsea had thrown their wealthy hats into the ring for Trossard’s services.
However, things have taken a dramatic turn today with Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi and Trossard’s agent, Josy Comhair, giving us their sides of the whole saga ahead of the Sussex side’s Premier League match against Liverpool tomorrow, courtesy of the Evening Standard.
With regards to de Zerbi, the Italian confirmed that Trossard’s exclusion from Brighton’s last two matches has been down to the Belgian’s poor attitude rather than a calf injury, which had been the company line until now. As relayed by the Standard, de Zerbi reported that Trossard left Brighton’s session before tomorrow’s match without an explanation:
“He left the session without saying anything to me. And it’s not good. I spoke with him and I explained this attitude, behaviour, I don’t like.
“I am open with him to take a step back and listen to him but he has to understand with me, I want only players who work hard and play for the team 100%.
“I don’t know about the transfer market, if he wants to change teams or not.”
Now this doesn’t make for promising reading, but, as always, there are two sides to every story, with Trossard’s agent Comhair giving his own version of events, stating that Trossard had indeed left the session due to a calf injury. The agent added that:
“Last Monday, the manager humiliated Leandro in the group and indicated that he no longer wanted to see him.
“Incidentally, it is also the manager who has indicated several times that a transfer is the most convenient solution.”
Now it seems that Trossard’s days are behind him here, and it’s never good when an agent and a manager start having a war of words with each other at the expense of a club.
Whether or not Trossard is injured or has simply had enough of Brighton, it all seems a bit unsavoury. While he would be a marvellous addition to our front-line as a substantial upgrade on Bryan Gil and Lucas Moura – and his versatility wouldn’t be unwelcome to our ranks either – I am wary of opening the door to someone partial to throwing his toys out of the pram.
Nevertheless, I’ll reserve judgment until we hear Trossard’s version of “the truth”, and footballers will be footballers I suppose!
Have your say on the Trossard pursuit on the VitalSpurs forum here.