Harry Redknapp claimed he nearly signed Santi Cazorla for Spurs – a player who once had to apologise to the club.
Harry Redknapp told The Evening Standard this week that he came close to signing Santi Cazorla for Tottenham Hotspur.
It was a case of one who got away, with the Spanish international eventually going on to sign for North London rivals Arsenal two years later.
Redknapp said: “Santi wanted to come. He was happy to join Spurs but there was a breakdown in talks over the fee.
“The deal was almost done but it got lost somewhere in the negotiations between Tottenham and Villarreal. It was a transfer that could and should have been done.”
Cazorla was sold to Malaga, before Arsenal pounced when the La Liga side ran into financial difficulty.
The midfielder won’t welcome Redknapp’s revelation, especially after he had to apologise to the club for an incident in early 2014.
It was an apology for the photo, below, holding a sign explicitly abusing Tottenham.
Cazorla’s excuse, claiming he had not even read the paper he was holding was a comment nobody was buying, made even worse by the fact he spelt Tottenham’s name incorrectly.
The Telegraph reported that Arsenal had to remind him of his responsibilies after the incident – which did not stop teammate Jack Wilshere getting into hot water for chanting the same language during the club’s FA Cup Final parade.
Who knows, had Redknapp got his way and managed to lure Cazorla to Spurs in 2010, the midfielder could have been holding a sign up abusing Arsenal instead, although Tottenham fans may hope their players would continue to rise above such ‘japes’.
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