Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
‘Levy badgered me every day’… Steve Bruce says Tottenham were desperate to sign £100m player
Steve Bruce has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy ‘badgered’ him about signing one player six years ago.
Tottenham have missed out on some pretty high-profile signings during Daniel Levy’s spell as chairman of the club.
In recent years, Spurs opted against a move for Bruno Fernandes, with the midfielder completing a move to Manchester Uni🍌ted from Sporting CP bac♊k in January 2020.
Of course, there are plenty of other names that spring to mind, with Willian optin🦂g for a switch to Chel𒀰sea over Spurs in 2013 and Sadio Mane also being snapped up by Liverpool despite interest from then Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino at the time.
These players went on to excel in the Premier League, much to the despair of Tottenham supporters.
Another current star who certainly falls into that category is Manchester City’s Jack Grealish.
The Englishman comp𒊎leted a switch to the Etihad Stadium for a British record fee of back in 2021.
It’s no secret that Spurs were in for Grealish three years previous but a move ultimately fell th🐠rough after new owners came in at Villa.
Now, Steve Bruce, who was managing Villa at the time, has shared some extra details on 🥃Tottenham’s interest in Grealish.
Bruce says Tottenham were desperate to sign Grealish
Speaking on , Bruce claimed th🦂at Levy was calling him about Grealish every day during the summer ofꦬ 2018.
“One ofꦺ the best things I did in management was ♐not sell him to Tottenham for £8 million,” Bruce said of Grealish. “Daniel Levy badgered me every day on holiday to sell him when Aston Villa weren’t the best in finances.”
The former Vi⛎lla boss was then asked why the Spurs chairman was calling him.
“I was the only one left, if🍷 you remember when Keith Wyness unfortunately left and the club was in a bit of chaos until the new people came in,” he said.
“But I think Mr Levy in his꧂ own great way ✤was trying to get a bargain and we did all we could to not sell him to Tottenham for £8 million.”
Bruce added: “I think he accepted🐻 it and then the new people came in and the first thiဣng they did was offer Jack a new contract, which he thoroughly deserved.
“The rest is history from then. Also, I have to say he was a huge🧸 Aston Villa fan an🧜d enjoyed playing for the club and enjoyed being the star man, which he undoubtedly was.”
Tottenham will rue missing out on Grealish
Grealish has gone on to scoop a treble with City ꦆfollowing his switch ♔from Villa after excelling at his boyhood club.
Tottenham di𝓰d up their offer for the winger significantly back in 2018 though, with Villa turning down a bid for the forward.
But after the club came under new owner꧂ship, the Engl💫ishman was simply unavailable at any price.
It turned𒐪 out to be a stroke of genius from the Midlands club as they quadrupled the money they would have made just three years la😼ter.