Nacer Chadli Refutes Claims He is Looking for Tottenham Exit

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nacer Chadli insists he is at the club for the long term after a month of uncertainty where he received an offer from Swansea City.

The Belgian international moved to White Hart Lane in a deal worth £7m last summer but largely struggled to impose himself on the first team during the first half of the season where he was dogged by injury.

Uncertainty surrounding his role at the club prompted speculation of a departure during the January transfer window after his agent was quoted as saying the 24-year-old was seeking a temporary loan move in order to strengthen his World Cup hopes with Belgium.

But after giving Tottenham fans a glimpse of what he is capable of after a sublime goal in a 4-0 win over Newcastle last week, Chadli is focused on seizing a first team role in Tim Sherwood's side for the foreseeable future.

"Moving to Swansea was a possibility," he told the Evening Standard. "But I had to make my decision and my decision was to stay. Not everything was clear with the situation so I wanted to stay at Tottenham.

"I had no doubts about it. I signed for five years, I want to make it here and I'm happy to be here now. When I came here I knew I was not going to play every game because Tottenham play 60 games in a season.

"When I got here I played at the start but then I was injured, then I got into the first team again , but I was injured a second time. It wasn't easy for me to settle as quickly as I would have liked but we have a big squad with a lot of good players so we have to compete with each other.

"I knew when I came that it was a big squad but I wanted to make it here. It's a good club with a great history and I just have to adapt to the Premier League, which is different for me, but I'm working hard to ensure I'm ready to play these kinds of games."

Tottenham will take on Ukrainian outfit Dnipro in the first leg of their last 32 Europa League clash on Thursday evening with Chadli likely to be handed a starting role with nine members of Sherwood's squad unavailable through injury.

Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker, Aaron Lennon, Younes Kaboul and Emmanuel Adebayor have all been left at home but are expected to be fit for Tottenham's visit to Norwich City on Sunday.