TOTTENHAM have endured a frustrating time trying to become one of the Premier League’s top sides.
Spurs have regularly finished in the top four and even reached a Champions League final but have not been able to claim a trophy since 2008.
The managerial likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have all found it impossible to break that duck.
One factor behind this has been players brought into the club, while there have been successes, there have also been many that have flopped.
However, if the club had managed to complete deals for some of the players that there were reportedly close to signing, then Spurs might have had a bigger trophy cabinet by now.
Here is a list of ten players that Tottenham missed out on.
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Cristiano Ronaldo
The five time Ballon d’Or winner was suggested to Spurs by former club striker and talent spotter Ronny Rosenthal.
However, he revealed that they like rivals Arsenal, they “didn’t follow up” the interest.
Ronaldo eventually joined Man United and would go on to enjoy one of the most successful careers in football.
Kylian Mbappe
Spurs are believed to have scouted the France World Cup winner following his impressive substitute appearance against them for Monaco in the Europa League in December 2015 as a 16-year-old.
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However, the report claims that the North London side realised that the attacker would be out of reach.
He would join PSG in a £160million transfer in 2018.
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Virgil van Dijk
The Liverpool star was a backup option for the club when they signed Toby Alderweireld in 2015, while he was still at Celtic.
While the Belgian defender was a good servant for the club, he did not hit the heights that Van Dijk has shown.
The Dutchman went to Southampton before moving on to Liverpool, where he has won the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League.
Samuel Eto’o
Eto’o was linked with a move to Spurs during his time at Real Mallorca but like many English sides, they opted not to take a punt on the promising 21-year-old.
The Cameroonian proved his doubters wrong as he became one of the most prolific forwards in Europe following a transfer to LaLiga giants Barcelona.
Now retired, the striker boasts a trophy cabinet that features four league titles and three Champions League trophies, among many other awards.
Rivaldo
In 2002, Spurs were looking for a statement signing and Brazil’s World Cup winner Rivaldo was available on a free transfer.
But despite trying their best to convince him to come to the Premier League, the midfielder opted for Serie A giants AC Milan.
Manuel Auset, Rivaldo’s close friend and lawyer at the time, added: “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.”
Luis Suarez
Former Spurs manager Harry Redknapp admitted that the ex-Liverpool star was on the club’s radar and that he was “liked a lot”.
However, after not quite fitting the desired striker role, Tottenham missed out on Saurez as he made the move to Anfield.
Redknapp said: “I wasn’t looking for a left-winger as such and before I’d had a chance to do much with him, he’d moved to Liverpool. Not that I’m saying we would have definitely got him.”
Eden Hazard
Former Chelsea star Hazard was close to becoming a Spurs player after a meeting with ex-first-team coach Clive Allen when he was still at Ligue 1 side Lille.
Allen has revealed that he was “confident” that a deal would happen at that Hazard would have moved to White Hart Lane.
Allen said: “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.”
Sadio Mane
Another player that Spurs were outbid for, Sadio Mane was a top target for the club in 2016.
However, Liverpool came in for the exciting attacker with a £34m bid and a salary offer of £90,000 per week, which proved to be enough to complete the deal.
Spurs would later sign Newcastle star Moussa Sissoko for £30m, but were able to pay the fee in staggered payments.
Jack Grealish
Tottenham tried to sign the England and Man City star while he was still at Aston Villa.
The club are believed to have submitted an offer of £25m, thinking that Villa’s financial woes would convince them to sell, but the club stood firm.
The West Midlands side would eventually sell their star a couple of years later, in a £100m deal to the Citizens.
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Paulo Dybala
Another gut-wrencher for Spurs fans came in the summer of 2019, when they thought their club had agreed a deal worth around £65m for then Juventus superstar Dybala.
The move fell through after no agreement could be found regarding the player’s image rights and he remained in Turin until he left for Roma three years ago.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
