Tottenham wanted to sign me at 19, says two-time Champions League winner
One former Chelsea man, who has won both the Premier League and Champions League twice among a whole host of other accolades, has revealed that Tottenham tried to sign him after he had just broken into the top level.
Most Spurs fans can rattle through a list of deals that Tottenham failed to get over the line, only for those players to become world-beaters at other Premier League sides.
The list includes the likes of Luis Suarez, Jack Grealish, Willian, Eberechi Eze, Eden Hazard and many more.
That has been one of the supporters’ main frustrations with the way the current Spurs hierarchy operates, with many feeling that the club do not push out the boat to get big names who could elevate the team significantly.
Thibaut Courtois admits Tottenham showed interest
Spurs fans can now add another name to the list of top players the club have missed out on, with Thibaut Courtois admitting that the North London side tried to sign him when he was at Genk.
The Belgian international has since had a glittering career, winning a whole host of trophies at Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, and Real Madrid, and being capped over 100 times for his country.
The 32-year-old revealed on the Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel: “When I was at Genk, starting to do something decent, obviously there was some interest from Tottenham, some interest from Chelsea, some other teams from other countries.
“Obviously, Chelsea at that moment had the project for me in the long-term, basically because David [De Gea] was going to Manchester [United], it opened the door for me to go on loan to Atletico [Madrid].”
Hugo Lloris makes up for Spurs’ Courtois mistake
While failing to land Courtois might seem like a big error in hindsight, it is worth pointing out that Tottenham signed Hugo Lloris in 2012, just 12 months after the Belgian swapped Genk for Atletico.
The Frenchman went on to become comfortably the best goalkeeper Spurs have had in the Premier League era, which is why there would not be too many regrets at N17 about missing out on Courtois.
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