Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League • England

Tottenham transfers: Respected boss claims Levy almost ‘won lottery’ with deal for ‘world’s best player’ close

Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Tottenham came close to signing a star now regarded as the ‘world’s best player’ in what would have proved one of the best deals in their history, his former manager has revealed.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is regarded as one of the game’s most difficult negotiators and isn’t easy to deal. Indeed, they rarely get done over in the transfer market either with players arriving or those departing the club.

To that end, money man Levy has a major say on any transfer in or out of the club.

Their recruitment over the past two years has been overseen by director Fabio Paratici. However, some of the club’s more recent decisions have come in for criticism, especially with a number of high-profile stars slipping the net.

To that end, critics point to how the likes of Sadio Mane, Ruben Dias and Bruno Fernandes have all slipped through their fingers in recent years.

However, the worst of the lot looks to have come to light. That’s amid revelations on how they missed out on Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

The Georgian winger has absolutely exploded on to the scene this season following a breathtaking season in Naples. Luciano Spalletti’s side are on the brink of winning the Serie A title for the first time in 33 years.

And they also have the chance to step into the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in their history on Tuesday evening. They do, however, need to overturn a 1-0 deficit to Serie A rivals AC Milan to progress.

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Tottenham missed chance to sign Kvaratskhelia

With 14 goals and 14 assists to his name from 34 appearances, the 22-year-old is averaging a goal contribution every 1.2 appearances. And on the back of that terrific form, his club believe the star is on his way to becoming the world’s best player.

Indeed, he has already been touted with a £100m-plus move this summer. And the likes of Real Madrid, Newcastle and Manchester United are all reportedly casting admiring glances Napoli’s way.

Whether any club actually makes a firm approach for his services remains to be seen. However, there is little doubting that Napoli have certainly landed upon a bargain, having paid a fee of around £9m for his services to Dinamo Batumi.

However, the player’s former manager at Rubin Kazan has now let slip just how close Tottenham were to his signature.

Speaking to Sky Sports’ special features editor Adam Bate, Leonid Slutsky has revealed just how close Spurs were to a deal.

And he says the transfer to bring him to N17 was ‘almost a done deal’ before the move fell through.

“What he is doing is not a surprise to me,” Slutsky said. “Nobody knew about him before he came to Italy. And that is understandable because the Russian league is not a popular league around Europe.

“But everybody in Russia knew. His quality, his position in world football now, that is not a surprise to any of us.

“I congratulate Napoli because they won the lottery. For next to nothing they have a £100m player!”

Big transfer miss for Tottenham

Turning the heat on Tottenham, he added: “A year ago, there was very serious interest from Tottenham. It was almost a done deal.”

That decision not to push through his signing will surely go down as one of Tottenham’s biggest failures.

Truth be told, however, West Ham, Leeds, Bayern Munich and AC Milan were also keen on the winger.

However, few were closer to his signing than Spurs. And that must be a real sore point given how good Kvaratskhelia has since become.

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