Mauricio Pochettino has a decision to make over who starts at right-back for Spurs this season following Kieran Trippier's move to Atletico Madrid.
The England international endured a tough time throughout the 2018/19 season and he was linked with moves to both Juventus and Napoli before finally signing on the dotted line in the Spanish capital.
Excellent for England at the 2018 World Cup as he played a major role in the team reaching the semi-finals, the ex-Burnley man just couldn't repeat his form and he was tipped to be sold by the manager ahead of the new campaign for some time.
Speaking to Sky Sports following his new club's stunning 7-3 victory over bitter rivals Real Madrid in the United States, the player claimed "things happened behind the scenes at Tottenham" when asked about his summer departure.
"I think it was time for me to change and move on," he said. "I don't necessarily mean that I needed to move on, but things happened behind the scenes at Tottenham, which I don't really want to go into, but I needed to move on from that."
In tears after the Champions League final defeat against Liverpool at the start of June, the defender's omission from England's UEFA Nations League squad gave him plenty of time to reflect on his season.
It's one he has admitted he was "thankful" to see the back of after making some high-profile mistakes for the Lilywhites.
"The confidence never went, it was just making silly errors and silly mistakes where I didn't need to," he added.
"It was a good break for me, a good four of five weeks just to reflect on my season and just look back, and I'm just thankful it's gone and move on.
"I'm here now, new chapter, new challenge.
"I had a good break to recover from the injury setbacks I had last season which I was playing through.
"I feel good, I feel fine and I'm just ready to go with my new club."
