Jol didn’t think Dembele would join Spurs

Fulham manager Martin Jol has admitted he did not believe Tottenham would sign Moussa Dembele before the transfer window closed.

The ex-Spurs boss lost Dembele to his former club when they activated a £15m release clause in the Belgian’s contract.

And the move surprised Jol, who thought Dembele would remain at Craven Cottage and was unable to bring in a direct replacement before last week’s deadline.

Jol said: “Dembele I really thought would stay, because £15m is a big clause.

“But they paid up and they always do that in the last week – I know that from my time there at Spurs.”

Tottenham also moved to sign Clint Dempsey from Fulham despite the American being widely tipped to join Liverpool.

It left the Whites without two of their most creative players but Jol is convinced his team will adapt.

“They [Spurs] made life miserable for me but I think we’ve got the players and, maybe in another sort of system, we will come up with something,” said Jol.

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