Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira Nearly Signed For Spurs!

Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira Nearly Signed For Spurs!

The QPR boss, Harry Redknapp has released a new book, A Man Walks On To a Pitch, in which he gives insights on a host of topics, including missing the opportunity to sign Luis Suarez for Spurs from Ajax. Redknapp, who was Spurs manager from 2008 to 2012, also revealed that Vieira nearly signed for Arsenal’s London rivals prior to his Man City move, according to the Daily Mail.

Vieira spent nine seasons with the Gunners and won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups. He then went to play for Juventus and Inter Milan in Serie A before becoming available again, when he was snapped up by Man City.


Redknapp revealed, “Patrick Vieira was a different type of midfield player and one every club would like to take now. He almost came to me at Tottenham from Inter Milan. I thought it was an incredible decision by him, after he’d been such a hero at Arsenal.”

“I met him at his house in Hampstead and he had no fear about what people would think or what reception he would get. He had enough confidence in his ability to just brush it away. I remember talking to Daniel Levy, our chairman, about him. He said the crowd would be hostile. I knew that — but if he had enough bottle to want to put on our white shirt after all that had gone before, I thought it said something about the man.”

“In the end, his circumstances changed and he decided to stay in Italy. By the time he did become available — the following January — our needs had changed and Manchester City snapped him up.”

The former Portsmouth boss also claimed that he had the opportunity to sign Suarez before he moved to Liverpool and became one of the most fearsome strikers in the world.

He revealed, “Despite all that has happened in his career since, one of the biggest regrets of my life in management is not taking Luis Suarez to Tottenham when we had the chance. Yet all of our scouts’ reports said that at Ajax he played wide off a striker, whereas we were looking for a proper front man. Just when I was on the verge of taking the plunge, the price went up. In the end he was sold for £22.8million to Liverpool. We wouldn’t have paid that.”