The father of Torino defender Ola Aina has revealed that his son was due to sign for Tottenham Hotspur earlier in his career.
London-born Aina, who is a boyhood fan of the North London club and spent three weeks training with Spurs as an 11-year-old but ended up putting pen to paper on a deal with London rivals Chelsea.
The versatile full-back progressed through the ranks at Stamford Bridge and went on to make six appearances for the Chelsea first team (transfermarkt).
Aina, who is now 23 joined Torino on a season-long loan for the 2018/19 campaign (Sky Sports) and made a positive impression in Serie A having made 30 appearances during his temporary spell (Mail).
Torino made the deal permanent this summer when they paid Chelsea £8.8million to secure the Nigerian international’s services.
Aina’s father admitted that it was heartbreaking that his son was unable to join Spurs but went on to make the grade at Chelsea who were keen to capitalise on their rivals’ reluctance.
“He was meant to sign for Tottenham,” Aina’s father, Olufemi told Al Jazeera.
“They had him over for about three weeks, then on the day he was supposed to sign, they kept acting funny. As a big Spurs fan, it was heartbreaking. Luckily, Chelsea officials were still calling us daily, so we decided, ‘Why not go where you are wanted?’”
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