Former Ukrainian international Yevhen Levchenko has said that Ruslan Malinovskyi made the right decision by joining Marseille rather than Tottenham, believing the midfielder would have struggled for game time in North London.
Malinovskyi was heavily linked with a move to Spurs back in the summer (TMW) but the transfer did not materialise at the time and the speculation linking the Atalanta star with a switch to the Lilywhites reared its head once again ahead of the January transfer window.
CalcioMercato claimed two weeks ago that the attacking midfielder was ‘dreaming’ of joining Spurs and added that West Ham United had also showed interest in bringing him to the Premier League.
Corriere della Sera even asserted last week Tottenham had made an initial loan offer for Malinovskyi with an option to buy, which would become an obligation next summer if certain conditions are met.
However, it was Marseille who won the race for the midfielder, with the Ligue 1 club confirming on Monday that they had agreed on an initial loan deal for the Atalanta star with an option to buy.
Levchenko believes that his compatriot has a much better chance of being successful at the Stade Velodrome than at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at this stage of his career.
When asked about Malinovskyi’s move to the French side, the 45-year-old told Tribuna: “I don’t think that being 30 years old, this is a step backwards. When you are 30 years old, you think carefully about all the options. If Malinovskyi moved to England, to Tottenham? I don’t think he would have played there.
“Marseille is also a volcano. If you don’t play with your heart, and with fire in your eyes, the fans will kick you out. Look at the squad, at the coaches that the fans kicked out.
“In this club, you need to work 100%. Marseille are a great team that can play in the Champions League. Tudor knows him. If they believe in him, then he will be able to play at the best level.”
(Photo by Ivan Romano/Getty Images)
Spurs Web Opinion
There is no doubt that Malinovskyi would have only been a bit-part player at Tottenham. In fact, I never got the feeling that he was Conte’s or Paratici’s top target either in the summer or this month. If Spurs had expressed a serious interest in the 29-year-old, they would not have had much difficulty getting a deal over the line.
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