Needing a defensive midfielder in January, Paris Saint-Germain, after some strong umming and ahing, decided to turn their attention to Everton’s Idrissa Gueye.
The Senegal international, flattered by this interest, decided he wanted to take the opportunity and told the Toffees he wanted the move.
Down their end, Everton were against it, not wanting to lose one of their key players midway through the season, and made it very difficult for the Ligue 1 champions to get their man.
Speaking to L’Equipe, relayed by Le Parisien, the defensive midfielder opened up about the whole process, and explained how it all started.
He said: “Thomas Tuchel called me. I saw that I entered in his plans. I described his project to me. We discussed the game, how I played. I told him about my ambitions. I then spoke to him a few more times. We texted as well. The club president, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, also called me.”
Interestingly enough, the midfielder revealed he never spoke to the one man he probably should have had a conversation with: Antero Henrique.
He said: “I didn’t have him on the phone. I’m not entirely sure what was going on with him. In fact, Everton weren’t either.”
Unfortunately for him, Gueye, despite putting ‘pressure’ on the Toffees, wasn’t able to convince his club to let him go, and decided against ‘clashing’ with the board because of his ‘education’, knowing it wouldn’t get him anywhere.
However, the 29-year-old is hoping he will be able to leave come the end of the season to further his career, whether it be to Paris Saint-Germain (if they still want him) or ‘another big European club’.
