Former Tottenham Hotspur Head of Elite Identification, David Webb said that the club could have signed Sadio Mane, Dayot Upamecano and Moussa Dembele.
The trio could have signed for Spurs during the Mauricio Pochettino era, as he was famously not backed enough by the board during his time in charge.
Now, David Webb has revealed how close Tottenham Hotspur were to signing Sadio Mane, Dayot Upamecano and Moussa Dembele.
Tottenham could have signed Sadio Mane, Dayot Upamecano and Moussa Dembele
At this point, it has become common knowledge that the London-based side had a chance of signing the now-Bayern Munich forward.
Journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke claimed in March that the club ‘nearly’ wrapped up the signing of the Liverpool legend.
However, it has now come to the surface that alongside Sadio Mane, the two other players Tottenham missed out on were Moussa Dembele and Dayot Upamecano.
“Moussa Dembele and Dayot Upamecano. This was at the time that I was there, they were the two standout world-class players. Sadio Mane was definitely another one at the time, but Liverpool pipped us to the post”, David Webb said, as relayed by Spurs Web.
“Pochettino at the time obviously had that relationship with him from Southampton. That was definitely a factor, Tottenham were pretty close, but Liverpool came in. I imagine that was down to finance and not wanting to pay the fee.”
HITC View: Imagine how much these signings would have helped Pochettino
Not to suggest that Tottenham would have been sweeping up trophies had Mane, Dembele and Upamecano had signed.
However, it would have helped Pochettino, who tended to play weakened teams in cup competitions due to the lack of squad depth at his disposal.
Moussa Dembele would have a solid backup for Harry Kane, filling in for him if he was injured, which was a regular occurrence back then.
While Sadio Mane would have slotted straight into the XI and Dayot Upamecano would have improved their defence.
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