Niko Kranjcar, the 27-year-old http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Croatia-c2879 midfielder, has completed his move from Tottenham Hotspur to Dynamo Kiev, both sides confirmed.
Kranjcar has wanted a move away from White Hart Lane for a while now, due to lack of first team opportunities. However, manager Harry Redknapp and the club chairman http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Daniel-c9879 Levy convinced him to stay until now, with Kranjcar having joined the club in 2009.
A statement by Kranjcar’s representatives read:
“After successful negotiations, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Niko-Kranjcar-c27926 has signed a four-year contract with Dynamo Kiev.”
Kranjcar joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2009 from Portsmouth and went on to have a successful first season with the London side but lost out his place to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gareth-Bale-c14422. Along with the emergence of Bale, a knee injury did not help his cause as he found himself
on the bench more often than not.
It is no secret that Dynamo Kiev have wanted to sign the midfielder for a while now, but have been unable to do so due to the club’s unwillingness to let him go. According to Kranjcar, it was the persistence of Dynamo Kiev chairman Ihor Surkis which convicned
him to join the Ukrainian side.
Kranjcar said in an interview:
“I know he wanted to sign me back in 2003 when I was at Dinamo Zagreb. Many years later Kiev again tried to sign me, and Surkis personally took control of the negotiations.”
He continued:
“He has tried so hard to sign me that I simply had to pay him back.”
As for his time at Tottenham Hotspur and finally leaving the club after a disappointing spell, Kranjcar revealed he was extremely grateful to the management, especially Harry Redknapp. Kranjcar admitted he was sad to be leaving the club after the English
manager had put so much faith in him. However, the fact that he was not given regular football was a big factor in his decision to part ways with the club.
Kranjcar said:
“That club means a lot to me. It has been great. I wanted to play more but I played some great footballers. Harry Redknapp has been a big part of my career - he is the one who brought me to Portsmouth and believed in me there.”
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