Trippier blasts Tottenham for delaying his groin surgery

Matt Stead

Kieran Trippier says Spurs “didn’t want me to have” surgery that had started to impact on his performances in north London.

Trippier left Spurs in the summer of 2019 to join Atletico Madrid after some self-professed “car crash” displays in his final season.

The right-back, who has become a key part of Diego Simeone’s team in the Spanish capital, has blamed Spurs for unnecessarily delaying surgery on long-standing injuries.

Trippier had been struggling with a groin problem that was exacerbated in the Spanish Super Cup final against Real Madrid in January, although he returned in time to exact a measure of revenge against Liverpool in the Champions League last 16.

“I certainly feel I am a better player than I was last season at Tottenham,” he told the Daily Mirror. “Last season was a difficult moment because I was struggling with injuries.

“It is not an excuse because I was not hiding about it. But I struggled for months with my groin and pelvis and I eventually had surgery just after the winter break in Spain in January.

“Because of the timing of the break and the operation I was only out for a few weeks and now I feel so much better.

“I should have had it last season at Spurs but people didn’t want me to have it then. I had so many issues with the last season there and about the way I performed and struggled with injuries.

“It got to a point where I had to have surgery this season and really I should have had it done last season. But there were so many important games…I don’t really want to go into it.”

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