Pochettino wanted £5m ace Julian Green to be first ever Tottenham signing, had lucky escape

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Tottenham wanted Julian Green three years ago, but his career has not lived up to expectations.

Mauricio Pochettino has been a big success at Tottenham Hotspur, but not all of his signings have been hits.

One player he tried to sign unsuccessfully was Bayern Munich attacker Julian Green, and in this case he may have had a fortunate escape.

The Metro reported in June 2014 that Pochettino planned to make Green his first ever signing for Tottenham, and was ready to pay £5 million for his services.

Green, 18 at the time, had already earned a call up to the USA national team and was tipped as a star of the future.

But his career since has been a tale of unfulfilled potential.

Green did not managed to crack the Bayern first team, or look close to doing so, and made just five Bundesliga appearances in a poor loan spell at Hamburg.

He stepped down to the second division with Stuttgart last season, moving permanently and showed a flash of promise, scoring once in 10 appearances, as they won promotion.

But it was not enough, as Stuttgart left him behind in the second tier, loaning him out to Greuther Furth.

Green, now 22, looks a long way off the promising player Tottenham wanted to sign.

While Mauricio Pochettino has a strong track record of developing players, it has not always worked; see wingers Clinton N’Jie and Georges-Kevin N’Koudou.

Green may have been a gamble worth taking in 2014, but like his US teammate DeAndre Yedlin, it is unlikely his Tottenham career would have been a success.