I was on the verge of signing for José Mourinho at Tottenham, but the World Cup winner denied me the “dream” role
Troy Deeney has revealed how close he came to joining Tottenham.
It was the summer of 2020 and WatfordEdit They had just been relegated after five years in the Premier League.
Deeney had scored 47 goals in 165 Premier League appearances for the Hornets, but at the age of 32 and facing a return to the EFL, the forward found himself with a surprise opportunity.
The striker was linked with surprise moves to Arsenal and Tottenham, not only providing the opportunity to play in the top flight again, but also the opportunity to experience Europa League football.
Reflecting on the interest, Deeney was aware that he would never be a regular starter, but spoke of how the opportunity would have been too good to turn down.
He was asked if he spoke with Mikel Arteta either Jose Mourinho Directly, Deeney told talkSPORT.com: “No, not Arteta. I had a chat with Mourinho but he wanted the boy, Carlos Vinicius.
“I didn't speak to Arteta, it was more of a discussion at board level and how we could achieve it.
“Obviously, since I wasn't going to start in any of these places, it was like 'yeah, no problem, as long as he's not an idiot basically.'
“With Mourinho they wanted the forward Carlos Vinicius,
“So he was their main target, and if that doesn't happen, we'll bring in Troy.
“I talked to him and I said: what do you want to do? How do you want to do it? Could you go from being a main man to one of the team?
“Obviously I was the main man at Watford, I was captain and I said 'look, if I get the chance to play then I'll play.'
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“Do you remember the great Spanish striker who came from Swansea (Fernando Llorente)? He kept scoring, didn't he? Always in the League Cup and I thought if I could do it, my job would be good.
“I said, all I'm going to do is push Harry (Kane) to be the best he can be and be his biggest cheerleader because playing for Spurs was way beyond my dreams.”
Unfortunately for Deeney, Tottenham went ahead with their decision to sign Vinicius and the Brazilian striker joined on a season-long loan deal with the option of a £36m transfer.
He only managed one goal in the Premier League and also scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup against Marine.
However, he did not do enough to secure a transfer and found himself on loan at PSV Eindhoven the following season, before eventually joining Fulham.
Vinicius is now on loan at Galatasaray from the Cottagers.
As for Arsenal, they opted not to sign any forwards that summer, but they did sign them. willian on a free transfer to strengthen their attacking options.
For Deeney, he spent one final season with Watford and scored seven goals in 19 games to help the Hornets to promotion in a campaign marred by injuries.
He left the club in 2021 as their fourth highest scorer of all time and their highest scorer in Premier League history.
Deeney spent two seasons at youth club Birmingham City, before joining. Forest green rovers where he also assumed direction for the first time.
