Spurs missed out on a deal to sign Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann by €7m, according to his former representative.
The Barcelona superstar made his name during spells at Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid before moving the Camp Nou in 2019.
He hasn’t lived up to the expectations which came with his €120m transfer fee, scoring 34 goals in 96 appearances for the Catalan giants – but he has impressed in recent weeks.
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Atletico took him to Madrid in 2014 from Sociedad with rumours that Tottenham were also interested at the time.
And the France international’s former agent Eric Olhats claims that interest from Spurs was real and that they missed out on him over their refusal to pay his €30m release clause.
Olhats told Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness): “Tottenham came for Griezmann and offered 23 million, but Real [Sociedad] demanded the 30 of his release clause, period. And he did not go away.”
In hindsight it looks like a mistake from Tottenham as Griezmann went on to score 133 goals in 257 matches for Atletico.
Meanwhile, Tottenham’s interim boss Ryan Mason admitted the club would be having “a long hard think” about the direction they want to take over the summer.
Former Spurs midfielder Mason, promoted from the academy following last month’s sacking of Jose Mourinho, saw the club’s outside Champions League hopes nose-dive thanks to their 3-1 Saturday lunchtime defeat at Leeds.
Mason’s side carved out a fine equaliser through Son Heung-min at Elland Road, but that offered brief respite for the north London outfit, who were overrun by Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds and ended the weekend having dropped to seventh place in the Premier League table.
When asked if Mourinho’s permanent successor would be inheriting a squad capable of challenging for a top-four finish next season, Mason said: “Absolutely, there’s some great players.
“It’s a big squad. It’s a very good squad as well. There’s definitely tools to work with for next season and I’m sure the chairman and the football club will have a long hard think about the direction the football club wants to go.”
Stuart Dallas gave the hosts an early lead and, after Son’s equaliser, goals from Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo reflected Leeds’ superiority.
“I came into this game wanting to win, hoping we could win the game,” Mason said. “That hasn’t happened and it’s disappointing.”
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