Sven-Goran Eriksson shares what he told Abramovich about buying Spurs

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Roman Abramovich could have purchased Tottenham Hotspur instead of Chelsea.

Some Tottenham fans have found life under Daniel Levy a little tricky to say the least, and Sven-Goran Eriksson has now shared just how different life could have been for Spurs.

Tottenham have been under the control of ENIC since 2001, with Levy operating as the club’s chairman to much criticism from some sections of the Spurs support.

Those fans feel that Levy’s frugality goes too far at times, and has been holding Spurs back from becoming a major force, particularly under Mauricio Pochettino.

Now, details have emerged on just how different the last 15 years could have been for Spurs, with Eriksson lifting the lid on Roman Abramovich’s interest.

Eriksson has told The Times that Abramovich wanted to buy a team in Moscow back in 2003, but then changed his mind, instead hoping to buy either Chelsea or Tottenham.

Eriksson claims he told Abramovich to go with Chelsea, because he would only have to change half a team in order to win there, rather than a full team at Tottenham.

“He wanted to buy a club in Moscow so we went to Moscow for three days, Pini [Zahavi], him and me. We saw all the clubs and I said buy Dinamo. They had the best facilities,” said Eriksson. “I went on holiday and his right-hand man phoned. Roman had changed his mind. He wants to buy a club in London. Tottenham or Chelsea?”

“I said, ‘What does he want to do?’ He said he wants to win. I said, ‘So buy Chelsea. There you have to change half the team. Tottenham you have to change the whole team’” he added.

Abramovich, worth £10.23bn ($12.9bn) according to Forbes, invested heavily in Chelsea in the early years of his ownership, backing Jose Mourinho as Chelsea brought home trophy after trophy.

In that time, Spurs have won just one major honour – the 2008 League Cup – and whilst Abramovich’s decision looks to have been the right one, there’s no real telling just how different life could have been for the Russian or for Spurs.