Brazilian legend Rivaldo who is widely recognised as one of the greatest players to ever play the game has admitted that Tottenham Hotspur were among the clubs who were vying to sign him when he left AC Milan in 2004.
The midfielder won his fair share of trophies during his time in Europe including the two La Liga titles with Barcelona, the Champions League with AC Milan and the World Cup in 2002 (transfermarkt).
In an interview with The Scottish Sun, Rivaldo has now revealed that several British clubs were after his signature when he became a free agent following his successful spell in the Serie A.
He admitted that he even met with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy for talks over signing for the North London club.
When asked if Celtic were interested in him when he left Milan, Rivaldo said: “Yep, I remember that Celtic were interested in me back then.
“I do not remember if we ever met to discuss it. I think Celtic sent an offer, like many other clubs at that time.
“I had meetings at Manchester, London and Liverpool. Sir Alex Ferguson was interested as well as Tottenham, we even had a meeting with Daniel Levy and Liverpool, Gerard Houllier called me.”
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The midfielder ended up moving home to his native Brazil in 2004 but was back in European football just a few months later when he signed for Olympiacos.
Rivaldo has since gone on to play in Asia as well as Africa, before returning to Brazilian football and finally announcing his retirement in 2014.
Spurs Web Opinion
The fact that Rivaldo kept playing until 42 years of age shows how much he actually loved the game and the fact that he wasn’t motivated by money. Looking at how long his career has lasted, perhaps he could have given us three of four solid years easily if we had managed to sign him in 2004.
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