Tottenham Hotspur defender Davinson Sanchez has described his time at Spurs as “painful” after leaving the club to join Turkkiye Galatalarasaray.

“My time at Tottenham was painful,” Sanchez told Sporting Witness after the team’s match against Ecuador on Monday (Aug. 18).

Sanchez’s confession came while defending teammate Luis Diaz (Liverpool). On that day, Diaz missed a penalty and the teams drew 0-0. Criticism of Díaz has been growing in light of his recent poor performances for the national team.

“I don’t have to hide anything,” Sanchez said, “Lucho (Luis Diaz) has done a very important job for England. I also suffered a lot when I was at Tottenham. But it’s about taking the pressure off yourself in some way.” 스포츠토토

Diaz has scored two goals in nine games for Liverpool this season in consistent minutes.

But when he’s in a Colombia shirt, it’s a different story. He hasn’t scored in all four of his starts, including last month’s games against Venezuela and Chile and this week’s back-to-back against Uruguay and Ecuador. Colombia has won one and drawn three of its four games in North and South American qualifying for 2026. A missed penalty against Ecuador fueled criticism of Diaz.

Sanchez joined Tottenham in 2017 from Dutch side Ajax. The transfer cost €42 million, which at the time was the highest transfer fee in Tottenham’s club history.

Sanchez arrived at Tottenham with high hopes, but his frequent mistakes on the pitch diminished his standing and turned Spurs fans away. Every time the transfer window opened, Sanchez was linked with a move away, and last season was no different. In April against Bournemouth, he was booed by Spurs fans after coming on as a 35th-minute substitute and conceding a goal due to a defensive error.

He failed to establish himself under new manager Enze Postecoglou this season and left Spurs to join Galatasaray.