Borussia Dortmund's latest signing Sebastian Rode has revealed that he rejected an approach from Tottenham Hotspur before making the move to the Westfalenstadion from bitter rivals Bayern Munich, according to German newspaper "?Bild-Zeitung.
The 25-year-old left the Bundesliga league and cup double winners on Monday, joining Dortmund on a four-year deal, after making only 17 appearances over the course of the last campaign.
Borussia Dortmund verpflichtet Sebastian Rode. https://t.co/heqPWN6qso pic.twitter.com/C2fmZ9WUEX
The hard-hitting midfield grafter is now the fourth player to join the league runners-up during this summer window after the club completed moves for Mikel Merino, Ousmane Dembele and Marc Bartra.
When asked whether Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs had made a move for him, Rode told Bild: "Yes, that's true. And I listened to it, but again: the transfer to BVB was a matter of the heart."
The former Frankfurt player revealed that, after having been a childhood supporter of Dortmund, head-coach Thomas Tuchel was "crucial" in swaying his decision to stay in Germany rather than make a move to North London.
He added: "I've known Tuchel since he was a youth coach at Mainz back when I still played for Offenbacher Kickers.
"I had [a] very, very convincing talk with Tuchel before my signature. My decision that it can only be Dortmund was certain after that."
The former Germany under-21 international put pen to paper with Dortumund in a deal "?reported to be in the region €12-15m, following strong links with numerous other German first division clubs, including Schalke, Wolfsburg, Borussia Mochengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen.
This comes after "?reports that highly-rated Dortmund midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan may look to move away from the club, after declining to sign a new contract.
The Armenian international and Kicker Bundesliga Player of The Season, could be swayed by an offer in the region of €35m as Dortmund may look to cash in before his contract runs out in 2017, with other North London club Arsenal reportedly interested.