Tottenham 22-year-old: I will quit club in summer if I stay on sidelines
By Harry Sykes
Vincent Janssen has revealed he plans to quit Tottenham in the summer if he is not a success in the second half of the season.
The Holland striker has had a wretched debut campaign at White Hart Lane since his £18million transfer from AZ Alkmaar last summer.
He has failed to score a single goal from open play in 27 first-team appearances, with all four of his strikes for the club coming from the penalty spot.
Janssen suffered the humiliation of failing to make the 18-man matchday squad for Thursday 1-0 Europa League defeat at the hands of Gent despite making the journey with the first team to Belgium.
The 22-year-old has admitted he has struggled at White Hart Lane, although he explained how he rejected the chance to make a mid-season exit in January and join Turkish club Galatasaray.
“I have given myself 12 months to succeed in the Premier League with Tottenham,” Janssen said, as quoted by the Mirror. “And those 12 months are not over yet. The level is really high here. Up until last week we were second in the league.
“Don’t forget I had only played one season at the highest level in Holland when Spurs bought me from AZ Alkmaar. In a short period of time I have made some big steps forward in my career.
“I’m not going to throw the towel in just because things are not going great for the first time in my career. I am jumping to put the Spurs shirt on, but I will have to prove to the coach that I deserve to play.
“When my agent turned up with Galatasaray I told him that he had to cut off the whole thing! No way I am leaving Spurs in less than one year.”
Janssen last started for the north London club when they knocked Aston Villa out of the FA Cup at the third-round stage on 8 January.
He did not make the team for the fourth-round victory against League Two outfit Wycombe even though Harry Kane was given the weekend off to celebrate the birth of his first child.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino opted to hand Heung-Min Son the spearhead role, although Janssen was introduced a half-time as a replacement for Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, another expensive addition from last summer who has struggled to make an impact at Spurs.
In other Tottenham news, a forward has signed after Spurs agreed terms on an out-of-window deal.
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