Manchester United 1999 treble winner Teddy Sheringham has revealed that Diego Maradona was once close to joining Tottenham Hotspur, but the move collapsed due to concerns over the Argentine star’s “baggage”.
Speaking exclusively on talkSPORT and Burger King’s Squad Table, Sheringham recalled how then-Spurs manager Ossie Ardiles seriously explored the possibility of bringing the late World Cup winner to North London after seeking advice from him.
Although Maradona never ended up in the Premier League club, Ardiles still went on to secure another high-profile signing shortly after.
“We’re going back a few years, and you’re talking about people you’d want to sit down with, Maradona would have to be one,” Sheringham said.
“Ossie Ardiles was my manager at Tottenham, he came to me one afternoon.
“He said, ‘I want your opinion on something, Ted. I’m thinking about signing someone, what do you think?’
“I went, ‘Well, go on, who?’ He went, ‘Maradona’. I just erupted and was like, ‘Ossie, just do it’. He said, ‘Okay, it’s in the pipeline’.
“He came back a couple of weeks later and said, ‘Look, we can’t sign him. There’s too much baggage. But we’re going to sign [Jürgen] Klinsmann instead.’
“Five minutes later, Klinsmann was at the club and all was forgiven. But Maradona would have been a good one.”
The revelation highlights just how close Tottenham came to landing one of football’s greatest ever talents, before ultimately opting for Klinsmann, who went on to become a key figure at the club.