There have been a fair few transfers that got away at Tottenham.
Harry Redknapp wanted Eden Hazard at Spurs during his time at the club, while Jack Grealish was set to join Tottenham at one point, but a deal fell through.
Paolo Dybala was also a Spurs target in the summer of 2019, and he wasn’t the only big-name player Tottenham looked at that summer.
Indeed, Bruno Fernandes was linked to Tottenham heavily that summer, and according to Darren Lewis, speaking on Last Word on Spurs, Tottenham actually put a bid in for Fernandes straight after losing the 2019 Champions League final.
Tottenham bid for Bruno Fernandes after losing 2019 Champions League final
It’s an open secret that Tottenham wanted Fernandes in the summer of 2019.
However, according to Lewis, Spurs actually bid for Fernandes straight after losing the 2019 Champions League final to Liverpool.
Indeed, the journalist says it was actually on the flight back from Madrid after the game that it emerged that Tottenham had bid for Fernandes.
“You can go back to Harry Redknapp who wanted Gary Cahill and Carlos Tevez and he got Ryan Nelson and Luis Saha. When Pochettino was at the club he saw that Alderweireld and Vertonghen were just past their best and it was time to reinvest.
“It was that same, we were on the plane back from the Champions League final when we got wind on the plane that the bid had gone in for Bruno Fernandes. We thought he would be a great acquisition. How did Man Utd beat Tottenham to the punch when they had first dibs?”
What Bruno Fernandes said about failed Tottenham move
Tottenham bid for Fernandes just after their loss to Liverpool in 2019, but, as we all know, the bid didn’t lead to a transfer.
Indeed, Tottenham didn’t get their man, and Fernandes has since become a star at Manchester United.
Interestingly, Fernandes was angry with this situation at the time.
“Obviously, I wanted to go to the Premier League. The manager, Mauricio Pochettino, was the one who wanted me there. It was a good offer but Sporting tried their best to keep me,” Fernandes said.
“The president (Frederico Varandas) spoke with me but he spoke with me on the wrong day. It was the day after they decided to refuse the offer from Tottenham and I was really angry.
“Luckily for me, the manager (Marcel Keizer) was the right one at the right time.”
Tottenham would instead sign Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele that summer, and a look at the stats show that Spurs messed this one up.
Fernandes has gone on to become infinitely better than Lo Celso or Ndombele, and this may be one of the most painful missed transfers at Spurs in recent history.