England defender Jonathan Woodgate believes his new club Tottenham's 11th place in the Premier League is a 'false position'.
The 28-year-old finally moved from Middlesbrough to Spurs yesterday - and although the details of the deal have yet to be announced, Woodgate is likely to cost Juande Ramos' side in the region of £7million.
The clubs earlier confirmed they had reached agreement for the 28-year-old, who joined Boro from Real Madrid in August 2006 - initially on loan, with the move made permanent in April 2007.
Woodgate has made 19 league appearances for the Teessiders this season.
He told Spurs' website: 'I think it's a false position in the league, with the quality we've got. I hope we can climb up the league and get as high as we can.
'The group of players we've got here is exceptional - young players, and experience as well.
'They've got a great future. Obviously they are in Europe and in the (Carling) Cup - and the manager is excellent. He's won things with Sevilla, and a lot of the players are fantastic as well.'
Newcastle also made enquiries about Woodgate regarding a return to St James' Park, but Magpies boss Kevin Keegan had to admit his chances of signing the defender had faded.
The player insists he always wanted to join Spurs once he realised the identity of the club who had made an offer.
'There was an offer in this transfer window,' he recalled. 'When I knew it was Spurs - it's a good club and it's going forward with the new manager as well and they have got a lot of exciting players.
'I'm delighted to come. I've been given the chance to speak to the club. It's what I wanted to do from the start really.'
Boro manager Gareth Southgate - who has the likes of Emanuel Pogatetz, David Wheater and Robert Huth available as cover at centre-half - agreed to sell Woodgate because his head had been turned by the chance of a transfer.
Southgate told Boro's website: 'You're looking for everyone at your club to want to be here and be part of it.
'We wanted to give Jonathan the opportunity to speak to other clubs - because when clubs call you about a player it usually means the player knows about it anyway.
'We were then asking a question of Jonathan - do you want to be here and be part of what we want to do or do you want to head off?
'It seems he wanted to head off.'
by soccernet.espn.go.com
The 28-year-old finally moved from Middlesbrough to Spurs yesterday - and although the details of the deal have yet to be announced, Woodgate is likely to cost Juande Ramos' side in the region of £7million.
The clubs earlier confirmed they had reached agreement for the 28-year-old, who joined Boro from Real Madrid in August 2006 - initially on loan, with the move made permanent in April 2007.
Woodgate has made 19 league appearances for the Teessiders this season.
He told Spurs' website: 'I think it's a false position in the league, with the quality we've got. I hope we can climb up the league and get as high as we can.
'The group of players we've got here is exceptional - young players, and experience as well.
'They've got a great future. Obviously they are in Europe and in the (Carling) Cup - and the manager is excellent. He's won things with Sevilla, and a lot of the players are fantastic as well.'
Newcastle also made enquiries about Woodgate regarding a return to St James' Park, but Magpies boss Kevin Keegan had to admit his chances of signing the defender had faded.
The player insists he always wanted to join Spurs once he realised the identity of the club who had made an offer.
'There was an offer in this transfer window,' he recalled. 'When I knew it was Spurs - it's a good club and it's going forward with the new manager as well and they have got a lot of exciting players.
'I'm delighted to come. I've been given the chance to speak to the club. It's what I wanted to do from the start really.'
Boro manager Gareth Southgate - who has the likes of Emanuel Pogatetz, David Wheater and Robert Huth available as cover at centre-half - agreed to sell Woodgate because his head had been turned by the chance of a transfer.
Southgate told Boro's website: 'You're looking for everyone at your club to want to be here and be part of it.
'We wanted to give Jonathan the opportunity to speak to other clubs - because when clubs call you about a player it usually means the player knows about it anyway.
'We were then asking a question of Jonathan - do you want to be here and be part of what we want to do or do you want to head off?
'It seems he wanted to head off.'
by soccernet.espn.go.com
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