On Friday, we covered an interview Sofiane Hanni gave to Le Soir about a failed move to Swansea, and his desire to fight for titles than against relegation.
However, one potential transfer he never mentioned the one that could have taken him to Burnley, with the Clarets allegedly trying to hijack his move to Spartak Moscow on transfer deadline day.
Speaking to Le Buteur in Algeria, the 27-year-old rectified that after the website asked him about why he turned down the chance to play in the Premier League, going to Russia instead.
He said: “Of course it’s a more attractive league, there’s no doubt about it. I never excluded going to Burnley, but I’d already agreed to go to Spartak. I didn’t want to change my mind. Burnley was still a good challenge since they’re in the Premier League and are having a good season.
“Then again, knowing the English league, I didn’t see myself joining Burnley to fight for relegation next year. Also, let me make one thing clear. Yes, Burnley were interested, but I never received a concrete offer. Their board contacted Anderlecht, but I feel they understood that it was already done with Spartak, and didn’t go any further”.
Hanni then also mentioned the interest from Swansea, and reiterated that fighting against relegation wasn’t in his career plans, and neither was potentially ending up in the Championship in four months time.
While Spartak aren’t on their way to repeating last year’s feat of winning the Russian Premier League, they are third, tied on points with Zenit, but eight points behind leaders Lokomotiv Moscow.
