Tottenham Hotspur may want to sign Benfica striker Darwin Nunez, but they may be left cursing Jose Mourinho for not signing him in 2020.
Nunez started for Benfica as they took on Liverpool in the last eight of the Champions League on Tuesday night.
The Uruguayan wasn’t on the winning side, but did take advantage of an Ibrahima Konate error by slotting past Alisson.
Nunez showed his quality throughout Benfica’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool, only enhancing the buzz surrounding his future.
The Express now claim that Tottenham sent scouts to watch Nunez against Liverpool ahead of potentially making a move this summer.
Branded ‘electric’ by Micah Richards and allegedly valued at £65million, Nunez won’t come cheap this summer.
You also have to wonder whether such a red-hot striker would be willing to join Tottenham and risk spending his time sat behind Harry Kane.
What will really hurt Tottenham is that they could have signed Nunez over two years ago for much, much less.
The Daily Mail reported in September 2020 that Jose Mourinho considered signing Nunez from Almeria – but decided not to sign him.
Nunez instead joined Benfica for £21million and the rest is history; he has become an absolute sensation in front of goal.
Convincing a Spanish second-tier striker to develop behind Kane may have been a little easier than it will be now.
Instead of signing Nunez, Tottenham landed Carlos Vinicius on loan from – you guessed it – Benfica.
That move cleared the way for Nunez to shine at Benfica and Tottenham didn’t choose to keep the Brazilian at the end of his loan spell.
Fabio Paratici may now have to cough up a staggering fee to sign Nunez when Mourinho could have landed him for a third of the price in 2020.
These are the sliding doors moments you find in football, but with Tottenham keen on Nunez, this has to hurt.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
