O'Hara: I had to quit Spurs

O'Hara: I had to quit Spurs

Published Jun. 22, 2011 9:15 a.m. ET

O'Hara joined Spurs, the club he supported as a youngster, as a 17-year-old and admits they will always have a place in his heart. But he is looking to develop his career during a five-year contract at Molineux following a £5million move on Tuesday after an initial loan spell last season. O'Hara said: "It's painful to leave because I always wanted to play for Tottenham. "I played over 50 games for them and I was part of the club for a long period of time. "I joined them when I was 17 and I was a Spurs fan so I always wanted to play for the club. "But I never really felt like I had the opportunity. "Juande Ramos played me in a lot of games but then I kind of fell out of favour when Harry Redknapp came in." O'Hara, aged 24, added: "I had a really good pre-season when Redknapp took over but I still got left out and I think from that point on, I realised it was time to move on. "It just wasn't happening for me. Sometimes your face fits and I just need to play regular football. "It's hard to leave them because I've always supported them and I still love the club. "It's a fantastic club. But now I'm a Wolves fan and a Wolves player." O'Hara has become Wolves' first signing of the summer after scoring three goals in 14 matches when joining them on loan in January. He said: "This is the first time since I was 17 and joined Tottenham that I've signed a long-term deal. "This is the first time I'm going into a club where I don't need to catch up or meet new people. "I'm already part of the club so I really can't wait to play again. "My family are settled here now and we've just got to find a house somewhere and it will all be sorted." Wolves owner Steve Morgan said: "I was very keen to make Jamie's deal permanent. "I was a big fan of Jamie when he played for Portsmouth the year before. I thought he was their most outstanding player. "He almost kept them up and he was just a player who had got 'Wolves' written all over him. "He is our type of player and I'm delighted to have him here." Morgan is looking to secure the services of Kevin Doyle on a new contract with the striker having two years remaining of his current deal. He said: "I am sure we will have those conversations with Kevin and his agent at the right time. "Kevin has been a fantastic signing for this club and is a really, really key player for us. "We'd like to secure his services going forward."

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