Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has revealed he came close to signing Belgian winger Eden Hazard, but watched the deal collapse when owner Daniel Levy pulled out of talks.
Hazard smashed all sorts of records during his time with Lille before leaving to join Chelsea in a £32m deal in 2012. At Stamford Bridge, he blossomed into one of the best players on the planet, earning himself a move to Real Madrid seven years later worth up to £150m.
Redknapp has previously discussed his failed pursuit of Hazard, but now he has revealed that Levy's reluctance to pay up was behind the collapse.
Asked for his biggest transfer regret from his career, Redknapp told BBC Scotland's Sacked in the Morning Podcast: "Probably Eden Hazard when I was at Tottenham.
"Joe Cole rang me at Lille and said he was playing with the best player he had ever played with.
"He said Hazard was incredible. I went to watch him and he was fantastic. I met him in a hotel room with his agent and he was prepared to come to Tottenham. I think it was £16m at the time but Daniel Levy wasn’t prepared to pay the money."
The 2011/12 season, in which Cole was on loan at Lille from Liverpool, was Hazard's final in France. The Belgian racked up 20 goals and 18 assists in 38 Ligue 1 appearances, earning him the league's Player of the Season award for the second year in a row.
Chelsea won the race for his signature after that, outbidding Spurs by doubling their offer and reaping rewards of 110 goals in 352 appearances.
As for Spurs, they chose to sign Gylfi Sigurdsson, Emmanuel Adebayor and Clint Dempsey to reinforce their attack instead.
Source : 90min