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Striker admits he almost joined Tottenham on loan under Jose Mourinho

Charles Jones

Wed 13 November 2024 11:15, UK Updated Wed 13 November 2024 18:04, UK

Tottenham often fail to acquire some of their main transfer targets in any given window.

From Jack Grealish to Luis Diaz, Spurs have missed out on some top talents over the years.

However, there are also some less-exciting names who’ve almost made moves to Tottenham in recent times.

Troy Deeney has numerous stories of clubs he’s almost joined.

Deeney recently discussed how he almost joined Newcastle, while Deeney spoke about a potential move to Arsenal at one point.

Now, speaking on Under the Cosh, Deeney has claimed that he almost signed for Tottenham under Jose Mourinho, but, ultimately, Spurs went for Carlos Vinicius instead.

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Troy Deeney almost joined Tottenham

Deeney spoke about how he almost joined Spurs from Watford.

The striker says that he would’ve joined Tottenham on loan for that season with an obligation to buy if Spurs finished in the top four.

“They couldn’t sell me that summer. I was meant to go Spurs with Mourinho. And then they ended up getting the kid who’s at Fulham now, the Brazilian lad, they ended up getting him at Spurs on loan. I think he only scored like one goal that season. I’m not bitter about it at all,” Deeney said.

“Yeah, he worked great. And those things at Spurs, he’s at Fulham now.

“What were they asking for? Transfer fee? Or did they just want you?” Deeney was asked.

Nothing, just get me off the books. Yeah, just get me off the books. So obviously to Spurs, that was okay. And I think with Spurs, they were going to loan me for a year at like, let’s say 70 grand, like a big chunk of it.

“If I hit certain targets or they hit the top four, they had to take me, that kind of thing. Or if them, and then the other one was, if Watford got promoted straight away, I’d just come straight back.”

Deeney compared to Vinicius

Deeney, of course, wouldn’t have been the type of striker to move the dial massively at Tottenham, but there’s a real argument to make that he would’ve been a better option than Carlos Vinicius.

With all due respect, Vinicius was not effective at Tottenham, and he’s not pulled up any trees at Fulham either.

Deeney, for all of his flaws, did know how to cause problems for Premier League defences, and while he may not have been the most lethal of strikers, he would’ve been a decent weapon for a manager like Jose Mourinho in those tough games where you have to dig out a result.

Tottenham may have made the wrong decision in going for Vinicius instead of Deeney.