Alvaro Morata has revealed he spoke to Mauricio Pochettino about a potential transfer to Tottenham last summer.
Real Madrid sold Morata to Juventus in 2014 but took advantage of a buy-back clause in his contract last summer, taking the striker back to the Spanish capital for £23 million.
Before that happened, it appears Morata considered a move to England. He told The Guardian: “Various Premier League coaches called to tell me to play for them.
“I said yeah, I’d like to, that if I had to leave I would almost certainly go to London, but that I didn’t know what Madrid would do.”
He added: “I knew they’d bring me back but I didn’t know if it was to keep me or sell me.
“I spoke directly to Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte, although the norm is clubs call my dad or agent. Madrid said they didn’t want to sell, so here I am.”
Spurs ended up buying Vincent Janssen instead. Despite the Dutchman’s recent improvement, you have to think Morata would have been a better target, but perhaps a more unrealistic one.