Tottenham Hotspur have pulled off some eye-catching signings in their history, with Daniel Levy spending big in recent times.
However, Spurs have also missed out on bringing some world-class players to north London, with Eberechi Eze the latest Tottenham transfer to fall through. With a deal close to being finalised, fierce rivals Arsenal swept in and poached the attacking midfielder frim under Spurs’ nose.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been just Eze. Tottenham have been pipped to the post or rejected by a plethora of legends, from Cristiano Ronaldo to Kylian Mbappe.
10 superstars Tottenham Hotspur nearly signed
10
Cristiano Ronaldo
Former Tottenham scout and player Ronny Rosenthal was urging the Spurs to sign Cristiano Ronaldo when he was coming through at Sporting CP.
However, Spurs didn’t listen, with Manchester United landing the Portuguese superstar for just over £12m in 2003.
“There are hundreds of players that if the clubs had listened… one of the ones I’ll never forget is Cristiano Ronaldo, who I saw because I was going a lot to Portugal at that time.”
9
Kylian Mbappe
Back in 2015, a teenage forward by the name of Kylian Mbappe impressed Spurs chiefs for Monaco during a Europa League clash against Tottenham.
Those in north London kept tabs on the Frenchman and were looking to bring him to the club, however, they quickly realised he was out of reach, with Mbappe instead choosing PSG.
8
Diego Maradona
Tottenham legend Teddy Sheringham had two spells with Spurs and once revealed that the club were in talks to sign Diego Maradona.
Ossie Ardiles managed Spurs in 1993-1994 and once told Sheringham he was looking to partner him in attack with Maradona.
“He was like ‘Diego Maradona’, and I went ‘Ossie, Ossie, really!? Are you?’ I went ‘Do, just do it’. He said ‘I’m in talks with him at the moment’, and I was like ‘My God, do it, it would be brilliant to play with him.'”
7
Rivaldo
Levy missed out on signing Brazilian icon Rivaldo in 2002 when he was on the search for a new club after leaving Barcelona.
Manuel Auset, Rivaldo’s friend and lawyer, said that Spurs offered the then-30-year-old a move to the Premier League, but he instead chose AC Milan.
“Tottenham offered him the chance to play in the Premier League and there was a meeting with me, an agent and Mr Levy. Then we went to Milan, spoke about it there, and reached an agreement.”
6
Eden Hazard
Now remembered as a Chelsea legend, Eden Hazard could quite easily have been a Tottenham player when leaving Lille in 2012.
Former Spurs coach Clive Allen admitted that the Belgian star was “keen to come to Tottenham” but instead chose to head to Stamford Bridge.
“The chief scout and I met with Hazard and he was keen to come to Tottenham at the time but, in the end, he decided to join Chelsea.”
5
Bruno Fernandes
Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham made a concrete effort to sign Bruno Fernandes from Sporting CP in 2019.
Fernandes, who eventually moved to England with Man Utd, once revealed he was “really angry” his move to Spurs fell through after being convinced to join by Pochettino.
“Obviously I wanted to go to the Premier League. The manager, Mauricio Pochettino, was the one who wanted me there. It was a good offer but Sporting tried their best to keep me.
“The president spoke with me but he spoke with me on the wrong day. It was the day after they decided to refuse the offer from Tottenham and I was really angry.”
4
Sadio Mane
Tottenham and Pochettino made Sadio Mane their top target in 2016, however, Spurs were outbid by Liverpool.
The Reds paid £34m for Mane who’d go on to become an Anfield legend, with Tottenham instead using the money that would have gone on the forward for midfielder Moussa Sissoko.
Sadio Mane’s record vs Tottenham
Wins
9
Draws
5
Losses
2
Goals
3
Assists
2
3
Virgil van Dijk
Tottenham had Virgil van Dijk on their shortlist of central defender targets back in 2015 when the Dutchman was still on the books of Celtic.
Instead of signing Van Dijk, though, Spurs brought in Toby Alderweireld from Atletico Madrid, with Van Dijk signing for Southampton the same year.
2
Jack Grealish
At one point, Tottenham thought they were on course to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for just £25m.
Grealish wasn’t happy about the failed transfer to Spurs in 2018, however, three years later, he’d cost Manchester City a then-British record £100m.
1
Luis Diaz
Tottenham were in pole position and pushing to sign Luis Diaz from FC Porto in the 2022 January transfer window before Liverpool hijacked a transfer.
The Reds paid a guaranteed fee of £37.5m for the Colombia international, who would go on to win the Premier League at Anfield before being sold for a profit to Bayern Munich.
