Ex-Tottenham scout reveals the club were previously close to major deals for Man City and Barcelona stars

Tottenham’s squad has been decimated by injury this season, with stars such as Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero all missing time for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

They signed attacker Mathys Tel during the January transfer window, as the Spurs boss wanted to add more talent in attack in order to help with his squad’s depth at the position.

Tel can play both up front and on the wing, and so could provide extra help. But reportedly, Spurs were close to signing a world-class winger before Postecoglou took over, who could have transformed their team.

Ex-Tottenham scout reveals Jack Grealish story

Manchester City winger Jack Grealish moved from Aston Villa for a fee of £100m in 2021, after impressing heavily at the Midlands-based side. He has since had mixed results making 149 appearances, with 16 goals and 23 assists. But the England international has won three Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a Champions League during his time at the Etihad Stadium.

However, he was reportedly close to joining Tottenham before his move to City. Former Spurs scout Steve Hitchen, who was at the club between 2017 and 2022, revealed that the club were close to signing Grealish from Villa.

He told the DecisionMakers Podcast: “We [Tottenham] were very close to getting Jack Grealish, which probably would have been of the best [signings you could make]. Jack Grealish was a Tottenham [type of] player. He would have set the place alight. He had the skills, he would have got fans off their seats. He would have been a [the] difference in that time.

“We had Dele Alli at that time, and I think them two would have pushed each other as well. To miss out on that player was massive in that period."

Grealish would likely have had more game time at Tottenham compared to Man City and would’ve had the chance to work more with the likes of Harry Kane, who he has played alongside in the England set-up. Kane has been linked to a return to the Premier League.

Tottenham also nearly signed Barcelona star

Hitchen also revealed that during his time at the club, Spurs nearly signed Barcelona midfielder Frenkie De Jong who was at Ajax until 2019, when he joined Barcelona for a fee of £62.4m. He had also been linked with Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United.

Hitchen said: “And then we were really close to getting Frenkie de Jong - and I think, Frenkie de Jong, again, is a Tottenham player. I think he would have made a big difference for us. We had to replace the irreplaceable in [Mousa] Dembele. Probably Frenkie could have gone into that position and really succeeded at Spurs."

De Jong has since made 236 appearances for the La Liga side, scoring 19 goals and contributing 22 assists, winning one league title, and three Spanish cup titles.