Pavlyuchenko: Ramos tried to sign me for Real

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Tottenham Hotspur striker Roman Pavlyuchenko has claimed that Real Madrid attempted to sign him during the January transfer window, only for Spurs to deny him a move. The 27-year-old has endured an exhaustive and frustrating first season at White Hart Lane, arriving in North London last September having not had a significant rest from domestic duties with Spartak Moscow and international action with his country at Euro 2008.

The £13.8 million signing has made just 25 Premier League appearances for Spurs in 2008/09, scoring five goals - the last in Tottenham's 1-0 win over London rivals West Ham in April.

And it is now thought that former Spurs boss Juande Ramos attempted to lure the Russian to his new club Real Madrid in January, with Tottenham chief Harry Redknapp rejecting the Spaniard's approaches.

"'When my friends told me that Real approached Tottenham about me, I didn't believe it. I thought it was some kind of wild rumour," said Pavlyuchenko as reported by the Daily Mail.

"Later I discovered that my move to Spain was indeed a possibility. But Spurs bosses didn't allow for it.

"I do not want to discuss whether I would be good at Real or not.

"At the moment I'm part of another big European club, Tottenham. I do not know what's going to happen in the future. I have no intention to move anywhere and do not want to.

"After being with Spurs for sometime I can say that if you haven't played in Europe, and England in particular, you are a failure as a footballer. The Premier League is superb."

NEWS: Romantsev: Pav should have joined Arsenal

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Gregg Davies
Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.