The North Londoners were closely linked to Manchester City’s new German star, as well as Manchester United’s exciting young attacker last year.
– Germany’s Leroy Sane and France’s Patrice Evra in action
Manchester City this week completed the signing of Germany winger Leroy Sane from Schalke, and for Tottenham Hotspur fans, it is a name they may be familiar with.
Spurs were strongly linked to the youngster last summer, when he had precious little first team football under his belt. Reports of a £8.5 million bid surfaced in respected German publication Kicker, and came only a few weeks after the North Londoners reportedly opened discussions over the signing of Monaco’s Anthony Martial (Sky Sports). Tottenham’s bid for Sane was rejected by Schalke, and Spurs seemed reluctant to increase their bid.
Manchester United’s Anthony Martial
Of course, both starlets stayed at their sides, only to join either Manchester giant. Martial went to United for what could eventually end up being £58 million (Mirror) and Sane has now moved to City for £37 million according to BBC Sport, but it is food for thought that there was a chance for both to be involved in Mauricio Pochettino’s exciting Spurs side had the club pushed harder for the duo.
It is of course fanciful to spend too much time worrying about the players a club nearly signed, and every side has a list of players they both were linked with and perhaps even sold that went on to be outstanding talents.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino
But another way of looking at it is that as recently as last summer the Spurs recruitment team had identified two outstanding young prospects and seemed to be making enquiries as to their availability.
It is a confirmation that the club have been successful at finding players who may make an impact in the Premier League, or who are on the cusp of developing significantly over their next 12 months.
As it turned out, Manchester United had to pay Monaco way more than Tottenham would have ever agreed to in order to bring Martial to the Premier League. The Frenchman certainly looks like a great player in the making but even the most ardent of United fans would admit that they paid over the odds for the forward in expectation of him fulfilling a potential no one can be certain of.
FC Schalke 04’s Leroy Sane reacts REUTERS/Ina Fassbende
City’s signing of Sane would have also smashed Tottenham’s transfer record had they paid that much for the 20-year-old. While Tottenham ended up signing Lyon forward Clinton Njie and Bayer Leverkusen’s Heung-Min Son last summer, two players who had temperamental opening seasons in the division, they will not lose much money were they to sell them, and the South Korean in particular could still prove to be a good piece of business.
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