England defender Jonathan Woodgate believes his new club
Tottenham's 11th place in the Premier League is a 'false
position'.
The 28-year-old finally moved from Middlesbrough to Spurs
yesterday - and although the details of the deal have yet to be
announced, Woodgate is likely to cost Juande Ramos' side in the
region of £7million.
The clubs earlier confirmed they had reached agreement for the
28-year-old, who joined Boro from Real Madrid in August 2006 -
initially on loan, with the move made permanent in April 2007
Woodgate has made 19 league appearances for the Teessiders this
season.
He told Spurs' website: 'I think it's a false position in the
league, with the quality we've got. I hope we can climb up the
league and get as high as we can.
'The group of players we've got here is exceptional - young
players, and experience as well.
'They've got a great future. Obviously they are in Europe and in
the (Carling) Cup - and the manager is excellent. He's won things
with Sevilla, and a lot of the players are fantastic as well.'
Newcastle also made enquiries about Woodgate regarding a return
to St James' Park, but Magpies boss Kevin Keegan had to admit his
chances of signing the defender had faded.
The player insists he always wanted to join Spurs once he
realised the identity of the club who had made an offer.
'There was an offer in this transfer window,' he recalled. 'When
I knew it was Spurs - it's a good club and it's going forward with
the new manager as well and they have got a lot of exciting
players.
'I'm delighted to come. I've been given the chance to speak to
the club. It's what I wanted to do from the start really.'
Boro manager Gareth Southgate - who has the likes of Emanuel
Pogatetz, David Wheater and Robert Huth available as cover at
centre-half - agreed to sell Woodgate because his head had been
turned by the chance of a transfer.
Southgate told Boro's website: 'You're looking for everyone at
your club to want to be here and be part of it.
'We wanted to give Jonathan the opportunity to speak to other
clubs - because when clubs call you about a player it usually means
the player knows about it anyway.
'We were then asking a question of Jonathan - do you want to be
here and be part of what we want to do or do you want to head
off?
'It seems he wanted to head off.'