Like the rest of us, footballers sometimes can’t let things go and not getting a transfer is something that sticks with them all.
If a player wants a move but doesn’t get it, it tends to cause plenty of annoyance. For Kevin Mirallas, not being allowed to join Tottenham is an issue that he can’t leave alone.
The Everton forward joined Antwerp this summer, bringing an end to seven years at Goodison Park after first arriving in 2012.
Throughout this summer he’s made it clear that his departure from Merseyside would have come sooner had he gotten his wish earlier in his career.
Mirallas had the chance to join Tottenham or Atlético Madrid back in January 2015 after a strong campaign, and a trip to the World Cup caught their eye.
The move never happened, despite Mirallas’ desperately wanting it, as then Everton manager Roberto Martínez blocked his departure.
Mirallas has expressed plenty of unhappiness about that in recent weeks but now admits he fully understands why Martínez stopped it happening.
“My good matches with Everton, under his (Martínez’s) direction the season following the 2014 World Cup, aroused the interest of other teams,” he told Sport/Foot Magazine.
“The team was not doing as well, but I was good, and my manager told me that Tottenham and Atlético Madrid were very interested in me.
“He asked me what I wanted, and I told him that we had to jump on the bandwagon, continue to evolve. I made every effort to leave, but Martínez refused. I do not blame him.
“A coach never wants to lose a good player. He may have been right because in the second half, I took the failed transfer hard and I was worse.
“No doubt I too often thought it was the fault of others. We discussed it when he became coach of Belgium.”
