Divock Origi Rejected Tottenham Hotspur to Join Liverpool

Liverpool summer signing Divock Origi has revealed he turned down a move to Tottenham Hotspur before penning his deal with the Anfield club.

Origi moved to Merseyside for a reported £10m ($16.6m, €12.6m) from Lille, but will spend the season on loan at the Ligue 1 side before joining The Reds in 2015.

Following his impressive showings for Belgium at the World Cup – in which he scored the group stage winner over Russia – the 19 year-old says he attracted attention from a host of clubs and admitted he was faced with a dilemma over whether to join Liverpool or Tottenham.

"I took a lot of time to sign because, suddenly, there were a lot of clubs interested in me," Origi told the Daily Mirror.

"Big Spanish, Italian and German clubs wanted me, but my dream was to play in the Premier League. I also went to Tottenham, but of the clubs interested, I chose Liverpool.

Made at home in Liverpool

"The coach called me often, he invited me over, showed me a compilation of my matches since I was in the under-15s and knew everything about me.

"At the club, everyone knew me, from the person doing the video analysis to the chef. My father told me to choose with my heart and I chose Liverpool and I don't regret it for a minute."

During the summer transfer window, Tottenham have struggled to add a striker to assist senior forwards Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado – both of whom struggled during parts of last season.

Although Origi will be unavailable to Brendan Rodgers this season, the club will have Mario Balotelli in their ranks after the Italian international's move from AC Milan was confirmed on Monday.

Mario Balotelli is set to make his bow for Liverpool in the Premier League trip to Spurs this Sunday, a rivalry further stoked by the revelation of Origi's decision to spurn moving to north London.