Former Spurs player reveals he was on Pep Guardiola’s transfer shortlist

Former Tottenham midfielder Wilson Palacios has revealed that he found out from his former Stoke City teammate Bojan that Barcelona wanted to sign him when he was still playing for the North London outfit.

Palacios arrived at White Hart Lane from Wigan in the January of 2009 and immediately won over the White Hart Lane crowd with his desire and tenacity.

He went on to play 86 times for Spurs in all competitions, including eight appearances in our first Champions League campaign in 2010/11 before departing for Stoke (transfermarkt).

He looked like he was destined for a career at the top before a personal tragedy struck the midfielder.

Palacios’ younger brother was murdered by kidnappers in Honduras in 2009 (Bleacher Report) and the Spurs star was naturally left heartbroken by the incident.

He was never the same since then on the pitch was eventually sold to Stoke City in 2011 along with Peter Crouch.

The Honduran revealed that Bojan told him during their time together at Stoke that he and Javier Mascherano were part of a two-person shortlist wanted by Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.

As quoted by Stoke Sentinel, the former Spurs star reportedly said in a Whatsapp group chat with former Honduras players: “I found out recently that Barcelona loved me. There was gossip but I found out it was true later.

“When I was at Tottenham I didn’t realise anything but when I left I knew everything.

“When I was at Stoke City there was Bojan, who played for Barcelona and his father worked for the club.

“He told me that the team wanted me but there two options; me and Mascherano.

“Pep Guardiola decided for Mascherano and not me because they put pressure on him since he was Argentine and I was Honduran.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I am certainly not surprised by this revelation as Palacios in his peak had everything to his game. He was a brilliant tackler, covered more ground than anybody, had a decent passing range and could play himself out of tight spaces. I believe that his career trajectory would have been different if not for the tragedy involving his brother in 2009.

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