Moussa Sissoko: “My future is in Tottenham”

It’s probably safe to say at this point that most — not all, mind you, but a plurality — have probably given up on Moussa Sissoko. The French international signed with Spurs over Everton on deadline day this summer, for a still staggering club record fee of £30m.

But the 27-year old former Newcastle winger has disappointed since his arrival. Not only has he not found a way to crack the starting lineup on a regular basis, he’s barely taking the field at all, playing mostly as a late match reserve.

Sissoko performances and fan anger have already led to rumors of his departure; most notably AC Milan has been linked with a move for him, and pockets of fans are dreaming of a big-money approach from China this summer. But Sissoko is denying that he wants to go, telling beIN Sports that he wants to stay at Tottenham, and that he needs more time to acclimate to his new team.

“My future is in Tottenham and I try to give the best of myself. I am trying to learn because I have to assimilate to a new style of play in a new team.”

Mmm. Yeah. Okay.

I mean, I guess he might not be wrong, and if we’re going to use the “he’s still assimilating” angle with players like Erik Lamela and Vincent Janssen, then we probably should extend the same courtesy to Sissoko. But Sissoko also is 27 years old, not a young player. We shouldn’t expect him to magically improve from one season to another because he’s on some sort of development curve. This is the Moussa Sissoko that we bought, and it’s the one we should probably expect from here on out.

I would love for Sissoko to become a solid contributor to this team, but I’m at the point with ²⁄₃ of the season gone where I no longer really believe it’s going to happen. If Spurs can offload him somewhere – anywhere – just to get his wages off the books, they should take the opportunity and just eat his remaining transfer fee.