Let me go or I'll leave for nothing: Pavlyuchenko's Spurs ultimatum sealed Moscow move
By Ashley Gray
Roman Pavlyuchenko warned Tottenham he would sit out the remaining 18 months of his contract and leave for nothing if they did not let him sign for Lokomotiv Moscow.
The Russia striker, who will arrive in Moscow for a medical before finalising an ?ú8million move, admitted that he gave Spurs the ultimatum because he feared for his chances of playing at Euro 2012.
Spurs recently unilaterally invoked an option to extend Pavlyuchenko's contract until the end of next season, which would have made the 30-year-old eligible for British citizenship.
'I explained that if they did not let me go now, when match practice for the European Championship is particularly important, then I would not consider a transfer in the summer,' he told Russian newspaper Sport-Express.
'I would have worked the last year of my contract and left free of charge - especially as there would have been the additional bonus of a residence permit in England.
'Naturally, no reasonable person would want to lose absolutely all his money on a player who joined the club for a lot of money.
'But, as I understand it, Tottenham still negotiated till the last moments of the English transfer window, trying to find the best option for themselves.
'Maybe (Tottenham chairman Daniel) Levy was hoping for some more offers from Europe and or English clubs - I don't know.'
It is understood that Pavlyuchenko, who cost ?ú13.8m when signed from Spartak Moscow in 2008, was at least offered to Saudi Sportswashing Machine, Queens Park Rangers and Everton in January.
Lokomotiv had tried to sign him for more than a year but had always been put off by the demands of Tottenham, who at one stage demanded they turn a profit on his sale.
Pavlyuchenko admits that he has some regrets over his Spurs career, saying: 'there is some disappointment from the fact that I didn't fully show myself 100 per cent.
He added: 'Alas, three months after my arrival, instead of Juande Ramos, (Harry) Redknapp came in, and we didn't hit it off from the start.'
The Russian also hit out at suggestions he did not commit himself fully during training. He said: 'This is total nonsense, which was in the press thanks to Redknapp, who somehow had to explain his decisions and who generally could never attend a training session and then declare that Pavlyuchenko worked badly there.
'No, I never skive and the reason for being out of favour lies in something else.'
Pavlyuchenko also admitted his family had been unsettled by the move away from London. And an emotional exit was compounded by the Spurs squad singing 'Super Pav' to him as a goodbye at Spurs Lodge training ground.
'You can't imagine how difficult it is to pull away my daughter, who is in the second year at a British school, already speaks well and has friends there.
'I don't think she quite understands yet and says, "Well, I have friends in Moscow".
'Larisa (his wife) cried a little. She really grew to love London, but there's nothing you can do.'
'It was sad to go to the training ground to say goodbye to the lads today. They gave me a great send-off - they even sang the "Super Pav" song.
'This part of my life, anyhow, has ended. But another begins - hopefully even more interesting.'
The striker's volatile spell in north London came to an end in suitably volatile fashion when he woke up on deadline day to stories of a training-ground bust-up with Spurs assistant boss Kevin Bond.
But he questioned the motives behind whoever leaked the story and insists the incident was blown out of proportion.
'There was no conflict,' he said. 'It was a normal working conversation - well, maybe a little more prickly than usual.
'But I didn't argue with the assistant coach. Already by the next training session everything was friendly and we spoke normally.'
Pavlyuchenko had wanted to talk about his future with his manager but appeared to be unaware of the trial at Southwark Crown Court, where Harry Redknapp denies tax evasion charges.
'In general I'm categorically opposed to events in the dressing room being put on public display,' he said. 'But, to my surprise, someone has already done it in this case, and in some muddled way.
'In fact, I just wanted to know where was our head coach, for whom I had some questions and whom was at training just once last week.
'And Bond said that he didn't know. That, briefly, was the essence of the conversation. We didn't swear - the rest is just gossip. I even read that we fought - people have a good imagination!'
Lokomotiv president Olga Smorodskaya, who had tried to sign Lukas Podolski from Cologne earlier in the window, said: 'I am very glad that we finally completed negotiations for Roman Pavlyuchenko.
'For us, this is a very good buy. I am grateful to Roman for the firmness of his decision to move to Lokomotiv. I am also grateful to the Spurs management, with whom there were two-and-a-half months of difficult negotiations, but nevertheless we came to a positive outcome.'
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Feel sad reading that. It was clear he was a popular player among the squad as they sang the Super Pav song to him. Also, he probably would have stayed on to fight for his place if not for Euro2012. Too bad he had to leave.
The disappointing thing for me is, I didn't really expect him to leave in this transfer window as there were not many rumours about him. I had expected him to leave in each of the previous transfer windows but he stayed on despite all the rumours.
