Tottenham Hotspur tried and failed to bring Luca Caldirola to the Premier League when he was still at Serie A giants Inter Milan.
Luca Caldirola has admitted that his parents denied him the opportunity to make a dream move to Tottenham Hotspur in his younger days, speaking to Gianluca Di Marzio on Instagram.
Big things were expected of a highly-rated Italian centre-back when he was rising like a salmon through the youth ranks for Inter Milan and Italy. But a player who captained the Nerazzuri at U20 level never quite lived up to lofty expectations in the senior game.
Caldirola would only go onto make one first-team appearance for Inter before enjoying spells at Werder Bremen, Brescia and Darmstadt. The now-29-year-old is currently shining under Pippo Inzaghi in a Benevento side pushing for promotion back to Serie A.
But it all could have panned out differently had a fresh-faced Caldirole not been denied an opportunity to join the club he joined as a boy.
“I was captain of the Inter youth team, played for Italy at every youth level, so I had a lot of admirers in England too,” Caldirola said.
“Tottenham were tracking me and they were the team I supported, but my parents said no to the move. I was disappointed, but then Inter had given me by first professional contract, so I was happy to remain too.”
A dream move to North London has long since passed Caldirola by though Spurs are expected to go all-out for a new centre-half when the transfer window opens.
Jan Vertonghen is set to depart when his contract expires on July 1 while it’s fair to say fellow Belgian Toby Alderweireld is no longer one of the top defenders in European football as Father Time take’s it’s toll.
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