Kranjcar laments 'disappointing' Spurs spell

The 27-year-old completed his move to Kiev on Thursday, ending his three-year association with the North London side.

Kranjcar initially impressed during his debut campaign with Spurs, but found first-team opportunities increasingly hard to come by, making only nine Premier League starts last season.

And after completing his move to the Eastern European outfit, for a fee believed to be around £5.5 million, the Croatia international confirmed the last two years of his career have been frustrating.

"After a great first season, where we made the Champions League and played a lot of matches, the last two were quite disappointing because you want to play football," said Kranjcar.

The former Spurs ace also revealed that Kiev have been tracking him for some time, confirming they first tried to sign him back in 2003.

"I thought the price was too high that Spurs wanted for me last year and I thought then they would not come back for me," he added.

"But I am happy and satisfied… I am moving to a big club, a strong league.

"I am glad that I settled everything before the Euros start because I am calm now and can concentrate on our matches."

Nick Moore

Nick Moore is a freelance journalist based on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He wrote his first FourFourTwo feature in 2001 about Gerard Houllier's cup-treble-winning Liverpool side, and has continued to ink his witty words for the mag ever since. Nick has produced FFT's 'Ask A Silly Question' interview for 16 years, once getting Peter Crouch to confess that he dreams about being a dwarf.