Croatian international Alen Halilovic has revealed that he turned down the chance to join Tottenham Hotspur back in 2014 in favour of moving to Barcelona instead.
Halilovic made waves after breaking into Dinamo Zagreb’s first team as a teenager and it did not take him long to break into the Croatian national set-up.
There were natural comparisons made with Luka Modric at the time, given the fact that he came through the ranks at Zagreb, and was diminutive with a low centre of gravity while also being technically quite gifted.
However, it is fair to say that Halilovic’s career has failed to deliver what it promised, with the 27-year-old having unsuccessful spells at Barcelona, Hamburg and AC Milan, among various other uninspiring loan spells.
Would Alen Halilovic have been a hit at Tottenham?
The attacking midfielder did eventually make it to England in 2020, having spent one season each at Reading and Birmingham City.
The silky left-footer, who now plies his trade at Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie, has revealed that he rejected a chance to move to Spurs before joining Barca in 2014.
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Halilovic told The Athletic: “Tottenham wanted to buy me. But Barcelona was my style. They were about possession and the ball at your feet. The first year I was to play Barca B, then they would loan me to La Liga and in the third year they would decide.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Franco Baldini and Andre Villas-Boas might have been gutted to miss out on Halilovic at the time as he seemed destined to evolve into a superstar but with hindsight, Tottenham seemingly dodged a bullet.
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