Tottenham Hotspur 'approached Federico Fazio in June' despite signing at transfer window end

Tottenham Hotspur summer signing Federico Fazio has told IBTimes UK manager Mauricio Pochettino approached him in June, even though Spurs could not finalise the deal with Sevilla until the final days of the transfer window.

The Argentine boss earmarked the signing of a centre-back to replace Michael Dawson as a main target following his summer arrival to White Hart Lane.

Spurs were then heavily linked with a move with both Espanyol defender Hector Moreno and Villarreal's Mateo Musacchio.

But with Moreno suffering a long-term injury in the pre-season and Villarreal unwilling to negotiate for Musacchio, Pochettino turned his attention to his compatriot Fazio, meeting his €10m release clause on the final days of August after Sevilla refused to negotiate a cut-price deal.

When questioned by IBTimes UK about Pochettino's approach and his decision to join Tottenham, Fazio said: "The deal didn't come through until the end of August but the truth is that Pochettino and the club had already expressed their interest in me since June, even before starting the pre-season with Sevilla.

"So even though it didn't happen until the final days of the transfer window I was not worried about my situation."

Fazio is yet to adapt to the pace of the Premier League after missing the pre-season but in Spurs' victory over Everton on Sunday 30 November, he proved his worth, forging an impressive partnership with Jan Vertonghen in the back line.

He said: "I have almost just arrived but I already feel very comfortable. I am happy both in the pitch, with team and the colleagues, and with the new life in London and with the language."

When questioned about Tottenham's slow start to the campaign under Pochettino and the season's target, the defender said: "It's difficult when you start with a new manager."

"You have to adapt to the ideas of the new coach but after winning the last three games, including the one in the European league [against Partizan Belgrade] we hopes this can be useful to overcome the campaign," he said to IBTimes UK.

"After [beating] Everton, we are just two points behind the top four. There is still a long way to go [to know whether we can finish in the top four]. We just think in going game by game and now we are just focusing on the next match with Chelsea."

Meanwhile, the Argentine expressed his happiness for Roberto Soldado after the Spaniard scored his first Premier League goal of the campaign to give his side the three points.

"Roberto is very happy for the goal but also because he did a great job both in attack and in the defence, pressing very hard during the whole game," said Fazio.

"He was not worried [about not scoring in the Premier League] because he was scoring goals in other competitions but this goal is important for his confidence after so long without scoring in the league."