Vincent Janssen’s agent says he rejected overtures from Galatasaray

It’s safe to say that the start of Vincent Janssen’s tenure in English football has been rocky. After leading the Eredivisie in goals scored last season, a feat that earned him a move to Tottenham this summer, he’s struggled both with injuries and with adjusting to life in a much tougher, much more physical football league.

Many Tottenham fans have lost patience with him already, and the media isn’t such that it’s going to leave the knives sheathed when this kind of thing happens. Janssen has already been linked with moves away from Spurs, just months after he joined the club.

Janssen’s agent has now entered the fray. In an article in Dutch outlet Omroep Brabant, Patrick Van Diemen essentially acknowledged that Janssen has had an offer from Galatasaray and interest from other clubs who are ready to swoop in for him this January, but that Vincent has rejected all overtures to move away from North London.

“Galatasaray has asked, but Vincent will stay with Tottenham Hotspur. He has decided not to go. It could be that there are more clubs interested. No doubt there are many clubs that follow him. But in addition to Galatasaray there are no clubs that [have made contact].

"Last summer, Vincent made a conscious choice. He has signed a long-term contract with a beautiful club with good facilities and a good trainer. He is all for his chance at Spurs. Before his injury he has had playing time in each game. He still likes the club and is ready to work for his chance.”

The rumors of Galatasaray’s interest in Janssen came out a while ago, but we didn’t write about it mostly because the Turkish football media is somewhat infamous for just making things up out of whole cloth. But this is a little different.

It’s possible that it’s just agent speak, but if Van Diemen felt strongly enough to make a public comment about another club’s interest in his client, that implies there really was something there.

Frankly, it’d be foolish to cut bait on Janssen right now anyway. If we’ve learned anything from the Erik Lamela saga, it’s that foreign players often need at least a year to acclimate to English football. Maybe Janssen will start to turn things around, or maybe he’s a bust. It’s too soon to say, and it’s refreshing to read that Vincent, who has already proven himself to have an admirable work rate at Tottenham, is ready to work even harder to earn his place.