Christian Eriksen told Jose Mourinho on his first day at Tottenham that he had no intention of staying at the club.
Eriksen's contract was set to expire in June and the new head coach did not try to change his mind but kept him on the fringes of the team as Daniel Levy worked on the £12million transfer to Inter Milan which was completed this week.
'The day I arrived he told me he was not going to sign,' said Mourinho who replaced Mauricio Pochettino in November. 'Christian told me the decision was made and there was no way. From that moment I was just trying to build the team without him. That was the reason why I didn't play him many, many times.
'It was down to me and Mr Levy to manage the situation in an intelligent way. For me, to try to have a player without great motivations but with a good sense of professionalism to give us what he could. And for Mr Levy to do a great deal with six months on his contract.
'Christian was a good guy in the dressing room. Always positive and always respectful with the limitations of somebody that wants to leave because there are always limitations in this situation. You could feel in some matches he was not Christian; that is normal.'