Agence France-Presse LONDON: Mido has returned to Tottenham with a sharp new haircut, a slimline figure and a burning desire to reignite his love affair with the White Hart Lane faithful. The Egyptian striker, whose flowing locks have been replaced with a severe crew cut, revealed on Thursday that he had shed 10 kilos over the summer with the help of a Brazilian personal trainer he is planning to retain throughout the season. Mido spent 18 months on loan at Spurs before returning to Roma in May after the two clubs were unable to agree a permanent deal. Terms were finally thrashed out last week and, despite interest from Blackburn, Mido insisted he always had his heart set on a return to north London. He explained: I’ve had an agreement to come back to Spurs for more than six weeks now so I knew I would be back. I really appreciate what Spurs did because it was difficult to get me away from Roma. They need money and they can t afford to buy a striker like me, so they had to ask for a lot of money. But Spurs wanted me and I wanted to come to Spurs, and even though I had offers from other English clubs, I never changed my mind. I gave my word to the chairman. The board said they needed time to negotiate with Roma to get the best deal and they asked me not to sign for another club. Daniel (Levy) had a lot of meetings with Roma to get me here. I was close to joining Blackburn. I spoke to the manager and the chairman and I have a lot of respect for them, but I always wanted to join Spurs. Mido scored 11 goals last season as Spurs booked their place in the UEFA Cup and he is hoping his Brazilian trainer will help him find the net at least as often in this campaign. I ve worked hard because it was important for me to lose weight and now it s my job to keep fit because I got injured at the end of last season and gained weight. Nothing has changed in my training regime but I m talking to a Brazilian man who is one of the best physical trainers and I hope I can get an agreement for him to work with me for the next year. His job will be to work with the medical staff at the club to keep me fit and to work with my body closely. He was working with my friend Maxwell who is now at Inter. He had a big injury and he helped him to get fit again. This man has the experience and I asked Spurs if I could have him and I will pay for him, but I m still working on an agreement. When fit, Mido was an automatic choice for Spurs manager Martin Jol last season, with the big Egyptian paired with either Jermain Defoe or Robbie Keane. Despite his weight loss, Mido insists he will be just as good at muscling past defenders. I didn’t want to lose muscles, just the things my body doesn t need, he said.
Slimmed-down Mido ready to offer tonic to Spurs fans
