Tottenham confirm deadline day transfer of Newcastle midfielder Moussa Sissoko

Tottenham have completed the signing of Newcastle midfielder Moussa Sissoko on deadline day and the France international has consequently signed a five-year contract at the club. He joined Newcastle in 2013 and has made 112 appearances for the club, scoring on 12 occasions.

Sissoko has 44 appearances for the France national team and was among their standout players in the recently concluded European Championships where the host nation made it to the finals but lost out to Portugal in extra time. Sissoko was Spurs' third transfer on deadline day; they had completed the transfer of Georges-Kévin N'Koudou from Marseille and goalkeeper Pau Lopez from Espanyol on a season-long loan earlier in the day.

The 27-year-old was heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid but with no interest forthcoming, Spurs made a bid for the midfielder on deadline day, well below Newcastle's valuation for the player. Sissoko had not featured for the Championship side this season and was on international duty with France from where he was allowed to travel to London to complete his transfer after Spurs had improved their bid. Speaking to fans after the signing, Sissoko said he was keen to get started with Spurs and help them challenge for the title and progress in the Champions League.

"I'm very happy, very proud to be here. I am in the prime of my career and I want to play for a big team, I have the chance now with Tottenham so I'm looking forward and I hope we will do well in the Premier League and in the Champions League also," Sissoko told Tottenham's official website after the transfer.

"I've said a lot of times that I want to play in the Champions League so that's one of the reasons why I came here – to have the possibility and the chance to play this year. I will fight every day at the training ground and then in the games and give my best for this team. I hope we will all do well together."