Tottenham came close to signing Javier Hernandez from Manchester United when Andre Villas-Boas was in charge, according to the former manager himself.
Villas-Boas was head coach at Spurs between 2012-2013. He was sacked after one-and-a-half seasons in charge following a disastrous run of form in the 2013-14 campaign.
Hernandez was in and out of United’s first team during that time, and Villas-Boas admits he attempted to lure the Mexican to White Hart Lane.
But ‘Chicharito’ was apparently determined to become the first choice striker at United.
“I was close to signing Chicharito, I still have a very good relationship with him,” Villas-Boas told ESPN.
“He always said: ‘Coach, I’m going to fight for my position [at United] and I’ll fight until the end.’
“I told him that he should give me an opportunity that he should come, but no. He believed in himself a lot and that also excited me.
“In the end we weren’t able to come to an agreement.”
Hernandez is now with West Ham after spells with Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, while Villas-Boas is currently out of work after leaving Shanghai SIPG last year.
It would have been interesting to see Chicharito at Tottenham. However, if he was successful he may have blocked Harry Kane’s path to the first team.
Villas-Boas recently suggested Kane might have to leave his Spurs if he is to win silverware, but also suggested Tottenham are on the verge of becoming a club that can challenge for trophies on a regular basis.
It’s very kind of AVB to offer some free advice to Harry Kane on how to win silverware. Let me be the one to give AVB a bit of advice going forward. Get out of the football business altogether and look for some other profession.
Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Another beat-up from a washed-up!!!