A little over three years ago Lys Mousset rejected the chance to join Tottenham Hotspur.
With a desire to play in the Premier League, Mousset instead made the switch to Bournemouth. It was on the back of an impressive season in Ligue 2.
The striker scored 14 goals in 28 games in 2015/16. Several clubs from across Europe were keen on signing him as a result.
“I had a fair amount of offers, from Torino, CSKA Moscow, Tottenham and Sevilla but I felt Bournemouth (was the right club) as they were the club that were rising in terms of strength and wanted to progress,” Mousset told the Bournemouth Echo after joining the Cherries in the summer of 2016.
Arsenal, Monaco and Southampton were also reported to be interested. In fact the Saints came close to landing Mousset themselves, before the departure of Ronald Koeman to become Everton manager halted the deal.
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Could Tottenham and others still be keen on Lys Mousset?
(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Mousset clearly believed he would get more game time at the Vitality Stadium then with other potential suitors. A sensible decision on the face of it, unfortunately for the Frenchman it didn’t quite pan out like that.
Mousset scored five goals in 71 appearances during his three years in Dorset. But most of those were from the bench. In fact the 23-year-old started just eight times in the league in that time.
When Sheffield United decided to pay £10m to sign Mousset this summer it hardly excited fans. Unsurprising, really, when considering his underwhelming statistics at Bournemouth.
Mousset also lacked match fitness when he first arrived at Bramall Lane. Yet it didn’t take long for the forward to make an impact, coming off the bench at Chelsea.
It seemed Mousset had scored his first goal for the club, before it was given as a Kurt Zouma own goal, as the Blades came from 2-0 down to draw at Stamford Bridge.
The former France international didn’t wait long to find the back of the net, scoring in the 2-0 win at Everton. Mousset has since netted against the Gunners and West Ham United, as well as providing three assists.
As Spurs and Arsenal continue to struggle to fulfil expectations, surely this impressive form of a previous transfer target has not gone unnoticed. Perhaps they will be showing an interest in Mousset once again in the near future.
