My First Spurs Christmas - Juan Foyth

We caught up with this year’s new signings to find out about their plans for the festive period and how they’ve celebrated in the past. The week-long series concludes today with defender Juan Foyth, who joined us from Estudiantes in the summer...

Juan Foyth

Born: Argentina.
Previous club: Estudiantes.

What will you do on Christmas Day? 
This year I will meet my family in London – my girlfriend, my sister and my mother will all be coming to stay. In the morning I will train but in the afternoon and the evening I will enjoy some time with my family.

How does this differ from past Christmases for you? 
This is the first time I have had matches to prepare for because, in Argentina, we don’t play during the holidays – we have maybe one month free and I would meet with my grandparents, my cousins and my uncles to celebrate Christmas. It is good for me to be here, though. We are professionals and we are here for a reason so we will come to train but then enjoy the afternoon and evening with our families.

What is traditional at Christmas in Argentina? 
The difference is we celebrate at night on December 24. December 25 is a normal day for us! We celebrate just past 12 o’clock midnight and give presents to each other. We have Papa Noel, who brings gifts to the young children. When you wake up, like here in England, the presents are hanging from the tree or sometimes underneath it. To eat, we have traditional food called vitel toné, which is veal with anchovy and tuna-flavoured sauce.

What is your favourite festive meal? 
Easy – I like chicken and potatoes!

What do you wish for at Christmas? 
To win our games and put ourselves in a good position in the league.

What was your most memorable gift as a child? 
I always asked Papa Noel for a football, or football boots. I also collected shirts for different teams but they always stayed in the closet – I never put them on, I just collected them! I remember I had Argentinian shirts, one for Estudiantes, a Ronaldinho shirt for Brazil, and one for AC Milan because I liked Kaka. I got a replica and put his name on it. They were all small as I was just a child. Now I have Tottenham shirts!

Missed any instalments of the 'My First Spurs Christmas' series this week? Check out the answers from Fernando Llorente, Davinson Sanchez, Serge Aurier and Paulo Gazzaniga...