Goal.com

The former Swansea City midfielder explains to Goal.com why he decided to join Spurs instead of Liverpool, and believes in Andre Villas-Boas' vision for the club

EXCLUSIVE
By Alex Labidou

Despite being pursued by a former manager at a historic club, Gylfi Sigurdsson admits that it didn't take much for him to sign with Tottenham.

Speaking with Goal.com as Spurs prepare to face Liverpool in Baltimore, the Icelandic midfielder believes that the club is positioned for a strong future, one that he wanted to be a part of.

"Everything [about the team is attractive]. There's a new training ground, its a massive club with fantastic players," Sigurdsson told Goal.com. "There's talk about a new stadium. The ambition of the club is really high."

Sigurdsson spent last season on loan at Swansea from Hoffenheim, his first year in the Premier League. It was expected that he would follow his coach at Swansea, Brendan Rodgers, in joining Liverpool.

Instead, Sigurdsson declined Rodgers' offer and joined Tottenham in a £7 million pound deal, and hopes the team can continue to build on their fourth-place finish last season - which ultimately meant missing out on the Champions League to Chelsea.

"Tottenham missing out on the Champions League was really unlucky," Sigurdsson said. "It's a fantastic team and hopefully we can continue to do what we did last season."

The 22-year-old was Andre Villas-Boas' first signing as head coach of Tottenham, and the young player was impressed with Tottenham's decision to hire him as manager, and also stated that he hopes he won't be competing with Rafael van der Vaart for a position in the team.

"He didn't really have to sell himself because what he did at Porto was fantastic," Sigurdsson added. "Things didn't work out for him at Chelsea but that's probably one of the hardest jobs [out there].

"You've seen so many great managers go there and it hasn't happened for them. But I think he's going to do right at Tottenham. You see the players, they are enjoying training. "

"Hopefully, [Van der Vaart's role] will be behind the striker or in the midfield," Sigurdsson said. "As long as I'm playing, I'm very happy. Like every other player, I want to play. So hopefully, I get some minutes under my belt. I want to do well for the team."

Meanwhile, Tom Huddlestone has stated that Villas-Boas' young age for a manager could be helpful to him at Spurs, and played down any comparisons between the Portuguese manager and his predecessor Harry Redknapp.

"Even with the managers age, he's got a lot of experience," Huddlestone explained to Goal.com. "We've got a pretty young squad ourselves so I think we're probably gel well with each other.

"I don't know [the management style] necessarily different. Every manager has their own way of managing but he's very professional and organised. The lads are like that anyways so I think it's a good combination."

Huddlestone has been out for a considerable amount of time with injuries, but is hoping to make a mark on the first team this year.

He added: "I'm not sure what my role will be this season. We've got a big squad this season and a lot of players with quality in my position.

"So injury problems, hopefully, I've seen the back end of them. I just have to keep myself fully fit and hopefully win my place in the starting eleven with the new manager."

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