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44-year-old manager hints he snubbed PSG for Spurs, says he’ll ‘never forgive’ Levy

Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
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FC ZenitÕs coach from Portugal Andre Villas Boas before the start of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16: First Leg match between SL Benfica and FC Zenit at Estadio da Luz on February 16,… (Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

Andre Villas-Boas has revealed that he’ll ‘never forgive’ Daniel Levy at Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs sacked the Portuguese manager in December of 2013.

The 44-year-old only lasted around 18 months as Tottenham boss but a poor run of results after the sale of Gareth Bale that summer forced Levy into action.

In June of that year, Paris Saint-Germain were said to be interested in taking Villas-Boas to the French capital [The Guardian].

And the former Chelsea boss has effectively confirmed that he snubbed the mega-rich French giants to stay in North London, which exacerbated his anger when he was fired by the Premier League side six months later.

He told Yahoo Sport: “The Tottenham story was a pity. We were a very good group and very unlucky not to qualify for the Champions League, by a single point, and that was the difference sometimes between how people portray success and failure.

“No regrets because when I didn’t go to Paris St Germain in the summer I didn’t go because I thought we were building something special at Tottenham.

“I thought the love was reciprocal. When I found out people were actually kicking me out of the door, that is when things turned nasty.

“For me not to have renewed my contract at the end of my first season at Tottenham is something I will never forgive those people for.”

Betrayal?

It’s clear that Villas-Boas feels a little raw about his time at Tottenham, even eight years later.

But you have to say, Levy made a good decision here.

That’s because six months after sacking him, Levy brought Mauricio Pochettino to the Lilywhites and over the next five years, the Argentine would transform Tottenham, helping them to a Champions League final.

You can see why Villas-Boas is hurt but there’s just no way he could’ve taken the North Londoners to the same unchartered territory as Pochettino did.

And therefore, it’s hard to criticise Levy too much for this one.

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Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images