Redknapp says Tottenham nearly signed £88m star for £16m in 2012; Levy scuppered deal

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Harry Redknapp has admitted that Eden Hazard would have set Tottenham Hotspur back just £16 million in 2012 but chairman Daniel Levy ‘wasn’t prepared to pay’ for the Lille talisman, while speaking to the BBC’s Sacked in the Morning podcast. 

Given that Joe Cole has shared a dressing room with Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben and more, you can see why Redknapp was surprised to learn that his former West Ham star rated a 21-year-old, up-and-coming higher than every single one of his former teammates. 

Cole knew, right from day one, that there was something rather special about the twisting, turning, twinkle-toed Hazard.

After embarking on a scouting mission at Cole’s recommendation, Redknapp too came to the realisation that this was a player with a one-way ticket to the very top of European football in his back pocket.  

How far could Eden Hazard have taken Tottenham Hotspur?

“Eden Hazard was the one I really wanted badly when I was at Tottenham,” Redknapp said, claiming that the Belgium international was open to joining the North London outfit before putting pen to paper with near neighbours Chelsea instead.  

“Joe Cole rang me, he was at Lille and he said; ‘(Hazard) is the best player I’ve ever played with, he’s just incredible’. I said; ‘Joe, you’ve played with some good players at West Ham, Chelsea’!

“So I went over there (to France) and watched him and he was fantastic. I met him in a hotel room with his agent. He was keen to come to Tottenham.

“At the time, Daniel (Levy) wasn’t prepared to pay. I think he was about £16 million at the time but Daniel wasn’t prepared to pay the money. I would have loved to have him.

“In that spell, when he went to Chelsea, he was a fantastic player.”

Levy is not exactly the most popular man in North London these days, Tottenham’s rapid decline and the after-effects of the Super League saga ensuring that his already unsteady reputation has taken a battering among Spurs supporters. 

And Redknapp’s revelation won’t do Levy’s standing many favours either.

Particularly when you consider that, while Tottenham failed to lift a single trophy during Hazard’s seven-year spell in English football, Chelsea swept the board at domestic level, including a 2-0 victory against Spurs in the 2015 EFL Cup final.