Over the weekend Tottenham Hotspur fans weren’t just celebrating a much needed three points against Southampton, there was also plenty of delight at hearing the news that midfielder Moussa Sissoko had signed a new contract at the club.
Having definitely turned his form around at White Hart Lane following his earlier arrival from Newcastle United, we more than saw the best of the 30-year-old last season and he’s also been key for us so far this year and has now largely become integral to manager Mauricio Pochettino’s first team plans at the club.
🎶 Ohh @MoussaSissoko! 🎶
📝 2⃣0⃣2⃣3⃣ ✍️ #THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/vCgrPWRN5W
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) September 27, 2019
With 132 appearances to his name since his 2016 arrival, his new deal sees him through until 2023 – a three year deal with a further 12 month option – and it was obviously massive news and a boost for fans given the hiccups this year.
Despite this though, it seems Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas slightly missed the plot when commenting ahead of kickoff in relation to his new deal.
“I don’t exactly know where they are going in terms of the structure of the club. Danny Rose they were quite happy to let go, 29-years-old. Alderweireld, 30. Vertonghen, 32, running down their contracts. But they are happy to give Kane, Dele Alli, and Winks four or five-year contracts. Sissoko recently gets another three or four-year contract. Is it they are going for youth? And getting the right age and disregarding the older element to make it more valuable for them. Or are they trying to be too smart of certain individuals here? I don’t quite know how they can offer people like Sissoko new contracts, yet they can’t nail down Eriksen and the defenders because when you look back at their partnership, they have been as consistently as good as any Spurs player.”
Now there will be those fans who completely agree with his comments, but for others, different deals naturally get done differently – not least because players choose whether to accept them or not. Tying down Sissoko recently speaks to absolutely nothing about our potential continued efforts (if we are making any) to tie down others who will soon be out of contract.
It also massively underplays his growth at the club over the last 12-18 months.
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