Former Fulham striker Stefano Okaka admits he could have joined Everton or Tottenham Hotspur earlier in his career but missed out on a move the Premier League duo, speaking to Calciomercato.
Now 33, that particular ship has long since sailed as far as Okaka is concerned; a fading dot on a faraway horizon.
The five-time Italy international did enjoy rather hit-amd-miss spells at both Fulham and Watford on English soil, but the chance to lead the line for two of the biggest and best-supported clubs in the UK passed him by following a career-best 2015/16 season at Anderlecht.
“When I was at Anderlecht, the club was pushing to sell me to China. But I was 26 and I didn’t feel like it. I wanted to go to the Premier League; there was Everton and Tottenham,” Okaka explains, having scored 17 goals during his one and only year in Belgium’s Jupiler League.
“So I said no to a super offer (from the Far East). When you see certain figures, it is not easy to reject them. But my love for football is greater than my love for money.”
Everton and Tottenham wanted Stefano Okaka before Watford move
Okaka would end up at Vicarage Road instead; Watford paying £10 million after the one-time Roma youngster had forced his way back into the Italy squad in 2016. The physical, barrel-chested number nine struggled to emulate his Anderlecht form in the Premier League, however, scoring just five times in 36 games before returning to his homeland with Udinese.
Okaka, now 33, is plying his trade in Turkey with Istanbul Basaksehir these days.
“(I feel) very well,” adds the veteran, who found the net 12 times last term. “I had several requests from other clubs here in Turkey, but I decided to stay. In the league we started very well, as well as in the Conference League.”
After missing out on Okaka, Tottenham would compete the ill-fated £17 million signing of Eredivisie Golden Boot winner Vincent Janssen in the summer of 2016.
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