Bayer Leverkusen striker Lucas Alario was offered the chance to join Tottenham Hotspur in January before backing out of a move to the Premier League, his agent has told TYC Sports.
You may feel as if you’ve heard this story before. And there’s good reason for that.
In November, Alario’s representative Pedro Aldave admitted Tottenham had been rebuffed in their attempts to sign the nine-time Argentina international during the summer transfer window.
Spurs weren’t going to give up that easy, however.
When the window opened again in January the club and Jose Mourinho made another attempt to lure Alario to England, seemingly viewing the 28-year-old as support for Harry Kane and an upgrade on the erratic Carlos Vinicius.
The same question, however, received a similar answer.
Tottenham thwarted in Alario move
“The Tottenham thing was to be done but (Alario would have had to) change country for just six months,” says Aldave, suggesting his client wasn’t keen on a short-term loan deal from January to June.
The agent adds that, with Kane’s name written in magic marker on the Tottenham team sheet, Alario was unlikely to play regularly enough to justify a change of scenery.
“He decided to stay,” adds Aldave.
“There were other chances (to leave Leverkusen). Real Betis was an option a year ago and Tottenham six months ago.”
Alario joined Leverkusen from River Plate in a £16 million deal in summer 2017.
With 15 goals in 33 matches, last season was actually his most prolific at the Bay Arena too, although Alario could learn a lot from Harry Kane when it comes to finding the net at a regular rate.
An early burst saw 11 of his goals come in the first 13 matches of the season. From December onwards, however, Alario added just four more to his tally.
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