Harry Redknapp claims he wanted to sign big-name former Liverpool man for Spurs

Harry Redknapp has revealed that he was keen on taking Luis Suarez to Tottenham before the striker joined Liverpool.

There are several big players over the years who Tottenham have missed out on, including the likes of Luis Diaz, Jack Grealish and Paulo Dybala, and the likes of Willian and Joao Moutinho going a bit further back.

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Redknapp has now revealed that he also wanted to sign Suarez from Ajax but Daniel Levy would not sanction the deal at the time.

Tottenham were credited with an interest in the Uruguayan back in January of 2011 (Guardian) but it was Liverpool who ended up winning the race for the striker.

Suarez went on to score 82 times and provided 46 assists in his 133 matches for the Reds before moving to Barcelona three and a half years later (Transfermarkt).

Redknapp revealed that instead of landing Suarez, he had to make do with a couple of free signings during that transfer window.

When asked by Laura Woods if there were any big deals he missed out on during his managerial career, the 75-year-old told talkSPORT: “Loads over the years, so many it’s crazy. You think you’ve got one done and you’re sitting around late at night trying to get it done and it doesn’t come off.

“When you’re in a relegation battle and you’re struggling and you know you need one or two or you’ve got no chance, or if you’re trying to make the top four, that’s when you really need it.

“I tried to get Luis Suarez at Tottenham but couldn’t get it done and then the chairman Daniel [Levy] let me have a couple of free transfers instead. When it’s over it’s quite a relief, to be honest, you think ‘the windows shut, let’s get on with it, let’s get the best out of what we’ve got.'”

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That transfer window where we signed Louis Saha and Ryan Nelson on free transfers, proved to be the start of the end of Redknapp’s time at Spurs.

We went from being outsiders for the title until February to scraping fourth spot, only for Chelsea to fluke their way to the Champions League trophy and cost us qualification.

That ultimately cost Redknapp his Spurs job but the 75-year-old also has himself to blame in some respects as he was openly flirting with the England vacancy at the time.

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