Back in January, Aston Villa bid £20.5m to sign Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus, only for Tottenham to seal a £21.5m deal just days later.
According to The Athletic, the Villans felt their summer targets were more appealing than the Uruguay international, hence why they didn’t submit an improved bid for the South American.
Aston Villa eventually signed Leander Dendoncker for £13m – now, we think those in the Midlands will be kicking themselves.
Aston Villa should’ve pushed Tottenham further
Spurs were successful in their pursuit of Bentancur despite offering just £1m more than Aston Villa, so it feels as if the Villans could have tried harder to sign him.
At the time, it appeared Tottenham had got themselves a bargain – the midfield maestro arrived in N17 with 31 Champions League appearances and 51 caps for Uruguay under his belt.
Now, however, the deal looks even better, as Bentancur has truly blossomed this season.
Aston Villa have been left wondering what could have been as the 25-year-old hits a purple patch, scoring three goals while also providing two assists so far this season, a decent return from defensive midfield.
The Villans aren’t exactly poor nowadays, so it baffles us that they didn’t spend a bit more to sign one of the best midfielders in Europe ahead of Tottenham.
Bentancur becoming a hero for Tottenham
The Tottenham No.30 scored a vital equaliser in the Champions League against Sporting Lisbon last week, which ultimately helped Spurs reach the knockout stages.
Bentancur also scored a late winner against Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday to record a 3-2 win over the Cherries, despite Spurs being 2-0 down at one point.
The Uruguayan is becoming a bit of a cult hero in north London with some exquisite performances, and if he keeps this up, he will arguably be worth three times his transfer fee when the summer transfer window comes around.
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