Tottenham Hotspur are often accused of being ‘Spursy’ on the pitch — always close, but never quite over the line. And the same theme runs through their transfer dealings.
Eberechi Eze is the latest name Tottenham look unlikely to secure. And history shows Spurs have been linked with some even bigger stars over the years, only for the deals to collapse at the final hurdle. From Ballon d’Or winners to future Premier League legends, here are 10 world class players who came within touching distance of White Hart Lane — or the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — but never wore the shirt.
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Samuel Eto’o
Samuel Eto’o went down in history as one of Africa’s greatest ever footballers. But his career could have taken a very different turn had he left Mallorca to join Tottenham in 2002 as a 21-year-old.
Spurs instead opted to bring in Robbie Keane from Leeds United. That was hardly a bad decision, but Eto’o went on to score 31 times in 62 La Liga outings over the next two seasons before achieving incredible success with Barcelona, Inter Milan and others.
Rivaldo
Just three years after winning the Ballon d’Or, Rivaldo left Barcelona on a free transfer in 2002, attracting attention from ambitious clubs across the world. Tottenham, then only a year into ENIC’s ownership, were among them.
Rivaldo explained his decision to join AC Milan instead in a letter to then-manager Glenn Hoddle. It was justified: in his only full season at San Siro he won both the Champions League and the Coppa Italia.
Raul
When Juande Ramos was in charge of Tottenham, he held talks with legendary Real Madrid striker Raul. This was a year before the Spaniard finally departed Los Blancos, where he had scored 228 La Liga goals in 550 appearances.
The two shared the same agent and Raul often expressed admiration for English football. But Ramos’ tenure at White Hart Lane was brief, and he was long gone by the time Raul left Real Madrid in 2010 for Schalke.
Luis Suarez
Harry Redknapp has claimed he sent scouts to watch Luis Suarez at Ajax with a view to bringing him to North London. Their assessment was that he might be too similar to Rafael van der Vaart rather than the ideal partner for the Dutchman.
Liverpool swooped instead, signing Suarez as Fernando Torres’ replacement. He scored 69 times in 110 Premier League games for the Reds before cementing his reputation as one of the greatest strikers of the modern era at Barcelona.
David Beckham
Rumours that David Beckham would one day join the club his grandfather supported persisted throughout his career. January 2011 was the closest he came to actually signing for Tottenham.
Then with LA Galaxy, Beckham trained briefly with the club to maintain fitness during the MLS off-season. There were strong suggestions a short-term loan would follow, but it never materialised. He went on to play 50 more games for the Galaxy before ending his career at Paris Saint-Germain in 2013.
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Kaka
January 2012 remains a transfer window that still stings Tottenham fans. Despite links with Kaka, Carlos Tevez and Loic Remy, the only arrivals in North London were the ageing Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen.
The Kaka story always felt unlikely. But he was not a regular starter at Real Madrid at the time, while Harry Redknapp did little to quell the speculation. The Brazilian stayed at the Bernabeu, winning La Liga that season.
Eden Hazard
Tottenham built a reputation for smart recruitment from Ligue 1 in this era. And they almost added a superstar in Eden Hazard. The Belgian was repeatedly linked with White Hart Lane between 2010 and his eventual move to Chelsea in 2012.
Hazard seemed open to the move and even told the press as much, but he eventually opted for Stamford Bridge instead. The Blues had secured Champions League football by winning the competition, displacing Spurs despite their fourth-placed finish. Ouch.
Antoine Griezmann
Tottenham made seven signings in the summer of 2013. But that window is remembered as much for the players they missed than the ones they landed. Antoine Griezmann was one of them, reportedly admired by then-manager Andre Villas-Boas.
Instead, Spurs signed Erik Lamela. The injury-prone Argentinian never fully met expectations, while Griezmann starred for Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, becoming one of La Liga’s greatest players and winning the World Cup with France in 2018.
Jack Grealish
With Aston Villa languishing in the Championship and strapped for cash, Tottenham tried to lure away their prized asset: a young Jack Grealish, reportedly available for around £25million at the time.
But as Spurs hesitated over the details, Villa were rescued by new billionaire owners and no longer needed to sell. Grealish went on to lead them back to the Premier League before joining Manchester City for a club-record £100m, winning the treble in 2022–23.
Paulo Dybala
On this occasion Tottenham actually agreed a fee for a genuine superstar, meeting Juventus’ £64m valuation of Paulo Dybala in the summer of 2019.
However, Dybala’s image rights were owned by a third party, and Tottenham baulked at the estimated £15m needed to resolve the issue before the deadline passed. He stayed at Juventus, won a fifth Serie A title that season, and later moved to Roma on a free in 2022.