On Monday, Galatasaray completed the signing of Davinson Sánchez from Tottenham Hotspur on a permanent transfer.
The centre-back, who had a year left on his deal at Spurs, was linked with a move away from the north London club throughout the summer.
Galatasaray vice-president Erden Timur has admitted his side negotiated with Tottenham for two months to secure the 27-year-old’s services. He revealed this while speaking to the reporters yesterday, relayed by NTV Spor.
The Turkish transfer window closes on September 15th but the Istanbul club rushed to close the defender’s transfer on September 4th, which was the last date to submit their squad for the Champions League group stage.
Timur claims the Turkish champions had feared they couldn’t get the deal over the line for the Colombia international due to the differences with Tottenham.
“Until the last two days, there was a serious difference between us and Tottenham. In this business, whoever’s wrist falls last, wins the bargain. Davinson was third centre-back for Tottenham,” he said.
“Since the difference was so large, we thought they would not fall into our numbers. We increased the price by €1.5m euros and reached an agreement. It was a process of about 2 months. It started at €25m and they went all the way down to these numbers.”
Hürriyet have also relayed quotes made by the Galatasaray official, where he explained the Süper Lig side knew Tottenham would finally give in to sanction the South American’s sale.
“Having Tottenham was an advantage, they always raise the price but then lower it,” Timur explained.
“It was Davinson’s last year, too. Is it the final bluff or is it the truth? We’ve been seeing each other for two months. It started at €25m. They stopped at €16m for quite a while.”
On Thursday, Milliyet reported Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy agreed to sell Sánchez for €9m.
