St Mary’s star reveals all about interest from Emirates Stadium and White Hart Lane.
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Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin has spoken publicly for the first over his side’s decision to block his move to either Arsenal or Tottenham according to the Daily Express.
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The 24 year old French international had been desperate to leave St Mary’s having seen a succession of team-mates leave for ‘bigger’ clubs over the summer with the tough tackler seemingly keen to build on his call-up to Didier Deschamps’ 2014 World Cup finals squad.
Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Calum Chambers and Dejan Lovren all left the south-coast but despite that initial frustration the former Strasbourg man has now come to terms with life at Southampton;
“My situation was simple: at the end of the season my goal was to take the next step and join a club playing in the Champions League or the UEFA Cup.
“There were offers on the table but Southampton made a clear choice, which was to keep me after the departure of certain players.
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“I was ‘blocked’ but I must accept that because I have three years remaining on my contract.
“I could not afford to make a fuss and not play. I owe a lot to Southampton, who enabled me to make the France national team.
“I could not afford to go and clash with supporters who have always been cool with me.
“It would not have cool for me to end up in an endless showdown.”
It’s a surprisingly honest assessment of his situation and one that modern day footballers would usually avoid broadcasting and one imagines that Ronald Koeman will hope that he can continue to retain the services of the talented defensive midfielder though one imagines both Arsene Wenger and Mauricio Pochettino will be readying future bids for Schneiderlin.