Antonio Conte has confirmed it was Tottenham's decision not to extend Lucas Moura's contract beyond the end of the season. Joining from Paris Saint-Germain five years ago, the attacker has contributed with a number of important goals in his 213 games, including his sublime hat-trick in their Champions League semi-final clash vs Ajax in May 2019.
Playing a bit-part role last campaign following Dejan Kulusevski's arrival, the 30-year-old has only managed 11 appearances in all competitions this season due to injury and he has been linked with a return to Brazil. It was understood that the final year of the five-year deal he signed in 2019 required activating by December 31, but the option was not triggered by the club and now the player will depart come the end of the season.
You know this is a decision of the club and for sure this season is a difficult season for Lucas but at the same time for us," Conte told football.london in his pre-match press conference at Hotspur Way. "Honestly, in my mind when we planned the season Lucas was an important player for us.
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"But if you see from he start of the season until now Lucas played maybe one game, also with pain in the Champions League against Marseille and also not the whole game with us. First of all I think the damage is for me and the team. A player like Lucas is a good player. Also last season he helped us reach the Champions League.
"In my mind, my plan was to have him in my squad but we didn’t have possibility to use him because of the injuries. It was really difficult this season especially because it happened twice that Kulusevski and Richarlison were both injured. To face this wasn’t easy. Then if you ask about the decision of the club, I respect the decision of the club."
Pushed on whether Tottenham will look to replace him before the January transfer window closes for business, he added: "But you know when we started the season Lucas was one of the five strikers. We play with the three strikers and he was one of the five strikers and instead with this injury I faced the season with only four strikers and then also you know Gil, we are talking about a young player, a really, really good prospect who struggled with the physical aspect last season.
"Now we are trying to develop, to accelerate this process because for me it's very important to have an alternative, another option up front. Lucas from start of the season I counted on him but because of the injuries he was never present to help us."
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