Andre Villas-Boas has revealed that he turned down Valencia for ‘emotional reasons’ after his axing as Chelsea boss.
The Tottenham Hotspur manager was speaking after seeing his side lose 2-0 to Valencia in the Trofeo Estrella Damm, played in front of 42,000 spectators at the Mestalla on Thursday night.
Goals from Jonas and Sofiane Feghouli gave Mauricio Pochettino’s men a deserved victory, although they had Argentine midfielder Tino Costa dismissed for dissent towards the end, with Villas-Boas divulging afterwards that he had rejected an approach from Los Che.
“The first person to call me when I was sacked was the Valencia President and that was very important to me,” he told a Press conference.
“If I didn’t come here it was not because I didn’t like the sporting project or the club.
“It was more that I wanted to return to the Premier League to prove myself and try to obtain the same results I achieved with Porto.
“I’d like to coach in Spain some day because it is an interesting League, so I didn’t sign for Valencia because of emotional reasons.”
The 34-year-old also spoke of the ongoing saga surrounding Luka Modric’s proposed move to Real Madrid.
“While there is no offer we consider suitable for him then he will not be going anywhere.
“I don’t know what will happen in a few days’ time but my job is to get him mentally right as a footballer.”
