Tottenham have reportedly been questioned on their decision to sell Davinson Sanchez to Galatasaray two years ago, by the Turkish club’s president.
That’s according to Milliyet, who report that President Dursun Özbek questioned Tottenham about why they would have allowed the defender to leave in 2023.
Sanchez joined the Turkish side in a €9.5m deal in September 2023 after six years at Tottenham following a €42m move in 2017.
He made 207 appearances for them in that time but was considered a failed signing, never truly establishing himself at the club or convincing a series of managers after arriving with a growing reputation following his performances in the Netherlands.
They were happy to eventually move him on to Galatasaray, where he’s been a key player since his arrival and earned plenty of praise for his performances.
Özbek is clearly a fan and, according to Milliyet, ‘told the English managers’ “I still don’t understand how you let Sanchez go. He is a very special football player, and we are very pleased with him.”
Tottenham’s executives then reportedly responded to this by telling President Özbek “Because sometimes you have to leave. It was the same for Sanchez and he is playing very well at Galatasaray. This was a decision Sanchez made, and he showed how right it was. He found himself at Galatasaray as well.”
Now, it’s not clear when this exchange happened, but we would assume earlier this season when Tottenham took on Galatasaray in the Europa League. They were beaten 3-2 in Turkey in November.
It’s also not clear if these are direct quotes from the two parties or Milliyet are engaging in the Turkish tradition of paraphrasing, which they do regularly and are slightly obsessed with, often leading to confusion around quotes and who said what.
Thus, you can take all this with a pinch of salt but if they are to be believed, then it seems Tottenham feel they were more than justified to sell Sanchez despite Özbek’s confusion.
