Former Spurs boss reveals he tried to sign Luis Suarez at Tottenham Hotspur before Liverpool transfer
Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has revealed he tried to sign Luis Suarez during his time at Spurs. He managed the club between 2008 and 2012 and during that time, he tried to sign Suarez at White Hart Lane.
However, the Uruguay international ended up moving to Liverpool instead in the 2011 January window. The rest, as they say, is history.
Suarez went onto become one of the most talented footballers to ever pull on a Liverpool shirt and won the treble with Barcelona in the 2015-16 season. He also helped Atletico Madrid to the 2020-21 La Liga title.
However, it all could have been different for Spurs and Suarez had manager Harry Redknapp had his way 12 years ago. When asked by talkSPORT if there was any transfers he regretted missing on during his career, Redknapp revealed:
“Loads over the years, so many it’s crazy. You think you’ve got one done and you’re sitting around late at night trying to get it done and it doesn’t come off.
“When you’re in a relegation battle and you’re struggling and you know you need one or two or you’ve got no chance, or if you’re trying to make the top four, that’s when you really need it.
“I tried to get Luis Suarez at Tottenham but couldn’t get it done and then the chairman Daniel [Levy] let me have a couple of free transfers instead.”
Redknapp signed Emanuel Adebayor on a free transfer the following summer and Louis Saha for nothing in the January transfer window next year. But they obviously failed to hit the same heights as Suarez.
The 36-year-old is one of the greatest forwards to ever live. He joined Liverpool at a very poor time in the Reds’ recent history and there is nothing to suggest that he wouldn’t have joined Spurs if we pushed hard enough.
His transfer to Barcelona in 2014 proved that he was looking perhaps for a stepping-stone club before making the move to a European superclub – a status Liverpool and Tottenham can arguably lay claim to now.
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But it should have been a no-brainer for us given his time at Ajax Amsterdam. Perhaps Redknapp was better off keeping this information just to himself because knowing we could have had Suarez but didn’t, will just fill the fans with a feeling of helplessness and despair!
