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Christian Eriksen says his decision to run down his contract made him a “black sheep” at Tottenham Hotspur .
The 27-year-old midfielder joined Inter Milan last month for a fee of £17million.
The Dane would have been out of contract in the summer and had been linked with a move away from north London since last summer, when he revealed he was ready for a new challenge in the wake of Spurs’ Champions League final defeat.
“England, for the last few years, was very hectic,” Eriksen told BBC Sport. “After what I said in the summer, it was just about, ‘when is he going to leave?’
“Every game it was, ‘Is he leaving? Is he not leaving?’ Of course a lot of people were speaking about it.
50 biggest January transfersShow all 52 1 /5250 biggest January transfers 50 biggest January transfers 50 most expensive January transfers Click through the gallery to see the biggest deals, steals and flops in history.
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50 biggest January transfers 50. Paco Alcacer (£19.4m) Borussia Dortmund to Villarreal (2020)
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50 biggest January transfers 49. Enzo Perez (£19.5m) Benfica to Valencia (2015)
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50 biggest January transfers 45= Yohan Cabaye (£20m) Newcastle to Paris Saint-Germain (2014)
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50 biggest January transfers 45= Odion Ighalo (£20m) Watford to Changchun Yatai (2017)
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50 biggest January transfers 45= Morgan Schneiderlin (£20m) Manchester United to Everton (2017)
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50 biggest January transfers 45= Theo Walcott (£20m) Arsenal to Everton (2018)
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50 biggest January transfers 44. Lucas Tousart (£20.3m) Lyon to Hertha Berlin (2020)
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50 biggest January transfers 42= Nemanja Matic (£21m) Benfica to Chelsea (2014)
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50 biggest January transfers 42= Miguel Almiron (£21m) Atlanta to Newcastle (2019)
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50 biggest January transfers 40= David Luiz (£21.5m) Benfica to Chelsea (2011)
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50 biggest January transfers 40= Stanislav Lobotka (£21.5m) Celta Vigo to Napoli (2020)
AFP/Getty Images
50 biggest January transfers 39. Sander Berge (£22m) Genk to Sheffield United (2020)
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50 biggest January transfers 38. Paco Alcacer (£22.7m) Barcelona to Borussia Dortmund (2019)
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50 biggest January transfers 37. Luis Suarez (£22.8m) Ajax to Liverpool (2011)
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50 biggest January transfers 36. Krzysztof Piatek (£22.8m) AC Milan to Hertha Berlin (2020)
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50 biggest January transfers 35. Juan Cuadrado (£23.3m) Fiorentina to Chelsea (2015)
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50 biggest January transfers 31= Ramires (£25m) Chelsea to Jiangsu Suning (2016)
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50 biggest January transfers 31= Dimitri Payet (£25m) West Ham to Marseille (2017)
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50 biggest January transfers 31= Steven Bergwijn (£25m) PSV to Tottenham (2020)
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50 biggest January transfers 31= Lucas Moura (£25m) Paris Saint-Germain to Tottenham (2018)
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50 biggest January transfers 30. Goncalo Guedes (£25.5m) Benfica to Paris Saint-Germain (2017)
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50 biggest January transfers 29. Reinier (£25.6m) Flamengo to Real Madrid (2020)
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50 biggest January transfers 28= Gabriel Jesus (£27m) Palmeiras to Manchester City (2017)
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50 biggest January transfers 28= Cenk Tosun (£27m) Besiktas to Everton (2018)
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50 biggest January transfers 27. Wilfried Bony (£27.5m) Swansea to Manchester City (2015)
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50 biggest January transfers 26. Inigo Martinez (£28m) Real Sociedad to Athletic Club (2018)
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50 biggest January transfers 25. Dejan Kulusevski (£29.8m) Atalanta to Juventus (2020)
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50 biggest January transfers 24. Giovani Lo Celso (£30m) Real Betis to Tottenham (2020)
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50 biggest January transfers 23. Willian (£30m) Anzhi Makhachkala to Chelsea (2013)
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50 biggest January transfers 22. Krysztof Piatek (£30.9m) Genoa to AC Milan (2019)
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50 biggest January transfers 21. Lucas Paqueta (£31.4m) Flamengo to AC Milan (2019)
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50 biggest January transfers 19= Shoya Nakijima (£31.5m) Portimonense to Al-Duhail (2018)
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50 biggest January transfers 19= Edin Dzeko (£31.5m) Wolfsburg to Manchester City (2011)
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50 biggest January transfers 18. Julian Draxler (£34.1m) Wolfsburg to Paris Saint-Germain (2017)
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50 biggest January transfers 17. Leandro Paredes (£34.7m) Zenit to Paris Saint-Germain (2019)
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50 biggest January transfers 16. Andy Carroll (£35m) Newcastle to Liverpool (2011)
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50 biggest January transfers 15. Cedric Bakambu (£35.3m) Villarreal to Beijing Guoan (2018)
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50 biggest January transfers 14. Jackson Martinez (£35.7m) Atletico Madrid to Guangzhou Evergrande (2016)
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50 biggest January transfers 13. Juan Mata (£37.1m) Chelsea to Manchester United (2014)
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50 biggest January transfers 12. Lucas Moura (£38m) Sao Paulo to PSG (2013)
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50 biggest January transfers 11. Alex Teixeira (£38.5m) Shakhtar Donetsk to Jiangsu Suning (2016)
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50 biggest January transfers 10. Paulinho (£44.2m) Barcelona to Guangzhou Evergrande (2019)
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50 biggest January transfers 9. Bruno Fernandes Sporting to Manchester United (£46.5m)
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50 biggest January transfers 8. Fernando Torres (£50m) Liverpool to Chelsea (2011)
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50 biggest January transfers 7. Oscar (£52m) Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG (2017)
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50 biggest January transfers 6. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£56m) Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal (2018)
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50 biggest January transfers 5. Diego Costa (£57m) Chelsea to Atletico Madrid (2017)
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50 biggest January transfers 4. Aymeric Laporte (£57.2m) Athletic Club to Manchester City (2018)
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50 biggest January transfers 3. Christian Pulisic (£57.5m) Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea (2019)
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50 biggest January transfers 2. Virgil van Dijk (£75m) Southampton to Liverpool (2018)
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50 biggest January transfers 1. Philippe Coutinho (£106m) Liverpool to Barcelona (2018)
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“Even the fans you see on the street were like, ‘Thank you, goodbye and good luck’. But I was still there. It was a bit weird. In my head and for my body, it is good that I am in a new place and I can start again.”
“I wouldn’t say it affected me. In England, when your contract is shorter, it is like you have to leave now. You are gone. In the end I played about 30 games that were like goodbye games.
“If you have a short contract, you will be the black sheep. Of course, I did the interview. I was very honest. I felt I had to be honest.
“I did get the blame for a lot of stuff, for being the bad guy. I read I was the bad person in the changing room, that ever since I said I wanted to leave, it was no good me being there.”
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