Kevin Mirallas has revealed that Everton blocked him from moving to Tottenham during the 2014/15 season.

The Belgian finally left Everton permanently this summer after a string of loan moves away from the club, joining Anderlecht on a free transfer.

The winger had once been an integral part of Everton’s squad, but a number of factors led to him falling down the pecking order, where he became an unnecessary burden on the wage bill.

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Mirallas was a controversial figure among the Everton fan base, with many fans feeling that he didn’t have the right attitude to succeed with the club.

Mirallas refutes that claim, while also dismissing claims that he didn’t care about the club. Talking exclusively to The Athletic, Mirallas had this to say on the situation:

I know some people say that when I wanted to leave, I didn’t like Everton. It wasn’t true, because I wouldn’t have signed a new contract if I didn’t like Everton.

Before that opportunity (to join Spurs), I remember being asked if I wanted to play Champions League football. I said yes, but the best thing would be to do it with Everton. If it didn’t happen with Everton, then maybe I’d do it with another club.

That’s just ambition. But when you say you want to play for a bigger club, people think you don’t like Everton.

Some players might play for Manchester United but dream of Barcelona. Something similar happened with Philippe Coutinho. OK, he played very well with Liverpool, but Barcelona is a different level. Some people don’t understand football but speak a lot.

That Spurs opportunity he mentioned came midway through the 2014/15 season, when Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino and chairman Daniel Levy wanted to bring the wide man to White Hart Lane.

Reflecting on that proposed move, Mirallas reveals that while he wasn’t initially keen to go, Everton blocked his exit when he did decide to follow up on Spurs’ interest. Mirallas said:

I scored a lot of goals in the first part of the season and in January, my agent called to tell me a lot of teams were interested. I told him I didn’t want to go in January as it was better to finish the new season, but he kept calling me to say that Daniel Levy and Mauricio Pochettino wanted me (at Tottenham).

Then, he also told me Diego Simeone (the Atletico Madrid coach) was calling for me. At that moment, there were a lot of games with Everton and I said to him that I’d see what happened at the end of the season.

But he called me again one day and said, ‘Tottenham want you, right now.’ I told him to speak to the chairman but the chairman (Bill Kenwright) and (manager) Roberto Martinez were saying no.

I had two years left on my contract and Everton didn’t want me to leave but also wouldn’t give me a new contract. My agent suggested Everton give me a new contract if I said no, but when I did that, they didn’t give me a new contract. 

Mirallas continued to explain how Everton rejected a player-plus-cash offer from Spurs, and how that led to an interesting training ground exchange.

Afterwards, Tottenham kept pushing, so I spoke to Levy and Pochettino. I thought it was a good opportunity because Tottenham were doing well, so I pushed to leave. They offered a lot of money to Everton, plus a player, but they rejected it because they thought the player they offered, Aaron Lennon, was not the same type of player as me.

Finally, on the last day, they brought in Lennon (on loan). I remember being shocked when I got to the training ground and saw Aaron. I said, ‘Aaron, I didn’t have a problem with you because you are a good guy, but what the f**k is that?’ I was very shocked.

Read Everton Verdict

I’m glad that Everton didn’t allow Mirallas to join Spurs, personally. Daniel Levy is a successful and shrewd businessman, but after he squeezed every unnecessary penny out of Steven Pienaar’s deal, I’d rather not do business with him.

The Aaron Lennon situation is strange, but I suppose Everton thought they had won out with that deal, having kept their player while also adding without paying a transfer fee. In retrospect, it may not have been the best deal, but that is the benefit of hindsight.