Karim Benzema was close to joining Tottenham Hotspur 11 years ago, according to Gerard Houllier.
When speaking exclusively to French media outlet Le Parisien, former Aston Villa and Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier claimed that Tottenham were close to signing Karim Benzema in 2007 before he left Lyon to link up with Real Madrid two years later.
Benzema joined Madrid from Lyon in the summer of 2009 for a fee believed to be worth in the region of £25 million, and that now looks like an absolute snip for the Spanish giants.
The Frenchman has since gone on to establish himself as one of the continent’s most feared front-men, scoring an impressive 190 goals in 406 appearances in all competitions for Los Blancos.
Houllier, who was in charge of Lyon when Benzema was still at the club, claimed that the 30-year-old was close to joining Spurs before he made his switch to the Santiago Bernabeu, when speaking exclusively to Le Parisien:
“Look at Benzema. At one point, Tottenham wanted to take him. He was tempted. But he and his entourage listened to me and Karim stayed in Lyon. Two years later, he signed for Real Madrid.”
Tottenham have come on leaps and bounds since 2007, and it is a sign of their rise to prominence within the game that Benzema would arguably not even get into their team at the moment.
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