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Tottenham's Mousa Dembele joins Guangzhou R&F in £9m deal

Mousa Dembele has completed his move to Chinese Super League club Guangzhou R&F, with sources telling ESPN FC that Tottenham have banked £9 milllion from the sale.

Dembele, who joined Spurs from Fulham in 2012 and made 250 appearances for the club in all competitions, was entering the last six months of his contract so could have left for free in the summer.

The 31-year-old's last appearance for Spurs came against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League in November and ended after seven minutes as the midfielder was forced off with an injury.

"I leave Spurs today with a lot of love in my heart & memories of fantastic times," Dembele wrote on Twitter. "Thank you to all my unbelievable teammates, the staff & fans for all your support in my time at the club. To hear my name sung at WHL & Wembley made me incredibly proud.

"I wish only the best for Tottenham Hotspur in the future and am excited for the next exciting chapter in my life!"

Manager Mauricio Pochettino named Dembele among a select group of five geniuses he has been lucky enough to work with in his career, alongside Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, Jay-Jay Okocha and Ivan de la Pena.

The Belgium international's departure leaves Spurs light in midfield.

Moussa Sissoko limped off in the first half of Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Manchester United with a groin problem, with Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama already sidelined, leaving Harry Winks as the only available senior central midfielder. Dier and Wanyama are both closing in on their returns though.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.