The Tottenham hierarchy didn't see eye to eye over the sale of a fan favourite
Aaron Lennon claimed former Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and ex-manager Mauricio Pochettino disagreed over allowing him to leave for Everton. The now-retired winger insists Levy was against his departure in 2015 when Pochettino looked to put his own stamp on the squad.
Lennon will watch as his two former clubs, Spurs and Leeds United, face off in a crucial Premier League fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday night. While his boyhood club Leeds, currently in 16th, have already secured Premier League safety with two games to go, 17th-placed Spurs are desperate for a win to increase the gap on West Ham and the drop zone to four points, greatly boosting their chances of survival.
The 39-year-old signed for Tottenham from Leeds in 2005 as a youngster, going on to become one of the north Londoners’ most important players during his time at the club. He made 364 appearances for the Lilywhites over a decade-long stint, registering 30 goals and 78 assists while lifting the League Cup in 2008.
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Yet, despite all his importance to Spurs for much of that period, Lennon fell out of favour once Pochettino arrived in 2014. The Argentine tactician sought to overhaul the squad with a brand new style of play, which Lennon became a casualty of.
He made just nine appearances in the 2014/15 season and was sent out on loan to the Toffees in January 2015. Lennon returned to Spurs briefly that summer but was sent to join the Under-21s and was not handed a squad number, essentially forcing him out of the club.
That decision, according to the winger, was Pochettino’s, as he claimed the often brutal Levy actually wanted Lennon to stay. But the England international ended up reluctantly signing for Everton permanently in a £4.5million transfer in September 2015.
Talking about his departure, Lennon told Off The Shelf Podcast: "I was gutted. I knew it was coming because I wasn't playing much and I was out of the squad, but it was tough because I felt I could play in that side."
He added: "This club was like home then, I'd been at Leeds, but this became home... It was tough, I knew it was coming but until it happens you don't realise how hard it hits you.
"I remember I sat with Daniel and I think he didn't want me to leave also, but even then we both knew it was right, I wasn't playing and needed to play."