Tottenham Hotspur has several eye-catching deals in its history, including Daniel Levy’s recent spending heavily.
However, the Spurs also missed bringing world-class players to North London, and Eberesi Eze’s move to Tottenham was a failure. As the contract was nearing, strong rival Arsenal rushed over to pull out the offensive midfielder right in front of the Spurs.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just Ez. Tottenham has been nominated and rejected for the post by numerous legends, from Cristiano Ronaldo to Killian Mbappe.
10 Tottenham Hotspur Superstars are coming soon
10
Cristiano Ronaldo
Former Tottenham scout and player Ronnie Rosenthal had urged the Spurs to sign when Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Sporting CP.
However, the Spurs were unheard, and Manchester United won the Portuguese superstar in 2003 for just over £12 million.
“There are hundreds of players I wish the club would listen… One player I will never forget is Cristiano Ronaldo. I saw it because I used to go to Portugal at the time.”
9
Killian Mbappe
In 2015, a teenage forward named Killian Mbappe impressed Monaco’s Spurs leaders in the Europa League match against Tottenham.
People in North London were trying to monitor the French players’ movements and take them to the club, but quickly realized he was out of reach, and instead Mbappe chose PSG.
8
Diego Maradona
Tottenham legend Teddy Shellingham has been with the Spurs twice and has revealed that the club is in contract negotiations with Diego Maradona.
Ozzy Ardilest oversaw the Spurs from 1993 to 1994 and once told Sheringham he was considering partnering with Maradona on the offensive side.
“He was like, ‘Diego Maradona’ and I was like, ‘Ossy, oh, oh, really? What about you?'” I thought, ‘Do it, give it a go.’ He said, ‘I’m currently in negotiations with him,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my god, give it a go, it would be great if I could play with him.’
7
Ribord
After leaving Barcelona in 2002, Levi missed a contract with Brazilian icon Rivaldo while searching for a new club.
Ribord’s friend and lawyer Manuel Orsett said the Spurs offered the then 30-year-old to move to the Premier League, but Ribord chose AC Milan instead.
“Tottenham gave him a chance to play in the Premier League and we had a meeting with me, my agent and Mr. Levi. Then we went to Milan where we discussed and reached an agreement.”
6
Eden Hazard
Eden Hazard, now remembered as a Chelsea legend, could have easily become a Tottenham player when he left Lille in 2012.
Former Spurs coach Clive Allen admitted that the Belgian star was “eager to come to Tottenham,” but said he chose to head to Stamford Bridge instead.
“The Chief Scout and I met Hazard, who was eager to come to Tottenham at the time, but ultimately decided to join Chelsea.”
5
Bruno Fernandez
Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham made concrete efforts to sign Bruno Fernandez from Sporting CP in 2019.
Fernandez, who eventually moved to England with Man United, once revealed that he was “really angry” that his move to Spurs failed after being persuaded by manager Pochettino.
“Of course I wanted to go to the Premier League. Manager Mauricio Pochettino was the one who wanted me to be in the Premier League. It was a good offer, but Sporting did his best to keep me there.
“The chairman spoke to me, but the day we spoke was wrong. It was the day after they decided to reject the offer from Tottenham, so I was really mad.”
4
Sadio Manet
In 2016, Tottenham and Pochettino targeted Sadio Mane to the top, but the Spurs lost to Liverpool.
The Reds would have paid £34 million to Mane, who would later become Anfield legend, and Tottenham would have instead used it to acquire midfielder Musa Sisoko.
Sadio Manet’s record against Tottenham | |
|---|---|
victory | 9 |
draw | 5 |
loss | 2 |
the goal | 3 |
assist | 2 |
3
Virgil van Dijk
Tottenham had Virgil van Dijk on the shortlist for centre defender in 2015, when the Dutchman was still with Celtic.
However, instead of signing with Van Dijk, the Spurs acquired Toby Alderweireld from Atletico Madrid, and in the same year van Dijk signed with Southampton.
2
Jack Greerish
At one point, Tottenham thought he was planning to acquire Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for just £25 million.
Grealish was not satisfied with the 2018 failure to join the Spurs, but three years later he ended up paying Manchester City a then-British record of £100 million.
1
Lewis Diaz
Tottenham was in pole position and pushed for the signing of Luis Diaz from FC Porto in the January 2022 transfer market until Liverpool hijacked the transfer.
The Reds paid the Colombian national team a guarantee fee of £37.5 million, won the Premier League title at Anfield before being sold to Bayern Munich.
