Fernando Llorente spent two years at Tottenham Hotspur before leaving them as a free agent in 2019.
The Spaniard is a product of Athletic Club Bilbao’s youth system and spent eight years with their first team between 2005 and 2013.
Tottenham face Manchester United in the Europa League final at Athletic’s Estadio de San Mamés later today.
Ahead of this big clash between the two English clubs, AS had a chat with Llorente, during which he discussed his time at Spurs. The 40-year-old, who retired in 2023, is clearly thrilled with the love he still receives from the north London club’s supporters.
Mauricio Pochettino was manager at Tottenham when the former striker was at the English club. Under the Argentine’s orders, Spurs made it to the Champions League final in 2019, which they lost to Liverpool.
Llorente’s goal against Manchester City in the quarter-final helped Tottenham make it to the semi-final, where they overcame Ajax. When asked about Tottenham’s Champions League campaign during the 2018/19 season, he talked about the Spurs fans.
“In the end, you believe in yourself; I was ready for my opportunity when it came,” he said.
“There were a lot of injuries in Tottenham’s second year. In the Champions League round of 16 against Dortmund, the manager gave me five minutes, and as soon as I came on, I scored a goal from a corner, making it 3-0. So, we went to Germany with a better lead. In the first half in Dortmund, they could have scored six goals against us, and we didn’t concede a single one. It was the biggest beating I’ve ever had in 45 minutes.
“Then in the quarter-final, I scored the goal against City that put us through to the next round. All the Tottenham fans remind me of that every time I go to White Hart Lane in London to watch a game. It’s impressive how much they love me.”
Llorente scored 13 goals and registered six assists from 66 games for Tottenham.
