Former Tottenham ace explains why he rejected ‘big club’ Aston Villa

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Lewis Holtby could have swapped Tottenham Hotspur for another ‘big’ Premier League club in 2014 but turned down Aston Villa in favour of a return to the Bundesliga, speaking to The Athletic. 

Since appointing a serial winner in Unai Emery as their new head coach, the list of names linked with Aston Villa reads like a ‘who’s who’ of top La Liga talent; Joao Felix, Mikel Merino, Pau Torres, and five-time Champion of Europe Nacho Fernandez. 

Paul Lambert could only have dreamed of such backing and ambition; the Scot’s rather ill-fated era at Villa Park coinciding with a period of sustained austerity.  

Aston Villa, the Daily Mail said, missed out on a loan deal for Tottenham benchwarmer Holtby in January 2014. The Midland giants could not afford his £70,000-a-week wages.  

Villa would come calling again seven months down the line, only to see the thrice-capped German international opt for another down-on-their-luck former European champion in the shape of Hamburg. 

Lewis Holtby turned down Aston Villa when leaving Tottenham Hotspur

“I had the feeling that I wanted to go back home,” explains Holtby; one of the Bundesliga’s brightest talents during his time with Schalke and Mainz.  

“I was young. And I had the option of joining a great big club in Germany or another big club in England. If I didn’t go to Hamburg, I wouldn’t have met my wife. And therefore we wouldn’t have had our baby and the lovely time together since. 

“I don’t have regrets in life because the right path is always the one you choose.”

Holtby was one of the few bright sparks in a difficult spell for Hamburg; a team once known as The Dinosaur finally going extinct in 2018. Hamburg were relegated from Germany’s top flight for the first time in their entire history. 

Now at HSV’s second-tier rivals Holstein Kiel via a brief stint at Blackburn Rovers, Holtby is hoping to grace the top flight once more at the age of 32. His Kiel side are eighth in the table, but only one point off the play-off places.