Given the what feel like a never-ending conveyor belt of Tottenham Hotspur transfer bungles, it’s no small change when we actually get something right.
It turns out the Dele Alli could have been a Liverpool player.
Alli is a Liverpool fan.
“Gerrard was a big reason I began supporting Liverpool. I remember Istanbul, the FA Cup final, and the game against Olympiakos: Gerrard just scoring amazing goals. Gerrard was a big influence on why I supported Liverpool.”
MK Dons boss Karl Robinson said of Alli in March 2014:
“He is one of the most gifted 17-year-olds this country has ever seen. I’ve said from the word go, he’s as good as it gets and he’s the best young player I’ve ever worked with. I see him as a young Steven Gerrard, who had a similar frame and build to him. He needs to learn to score more goals and is getting better at that.”
What’s supposed to have scuppered a potential deal according to the Liverpool Echo – was that the fee and the proposed add-ons
Of course, nobody knows for sure if the call made at the time was right – it may well have been a prohibitively expensive deal based upon the situation at that time.
The killer quote from the Echo:
“Rodgers was keen to get him on board but others members of the transfer committee weren’t convinced that Alli represented value for money. There was a feeling that he would need another 12 to 18 months to be ready for the demands of Premier League football.”
The cheap response here is to gloat.
But the truth is, that under Levy – Spurs are a smash and grab operation.
Ryan Mason, Clinton Cards amongst an increasing number have been thrown into the deep end at Tottenham.
The Premier League is an unforgiving mistress.
Patsy Pochettino’s job is to take the oddments he’s thrown and turn them into a significant ROI.
Don’t mistake what I’m highlighting here.
Landing Dele Alli was a coup, but if you think it constitutes a feather in Levy’s cap, then you’re out of your mind.
