Liverpool legend Dirk Kuyt has explained how close he came to signing for Tottenham Hotspur and has revealed the conversations he had with Daniel Levy.
Kuyt arrived at Anfield from Feyenoord in 2006 in a €18m (£15.6m) deal and went on to spend six years at Anfield, playing 285 times, netting 75 goals and registering 40 assists across all competitions for the Reds.
Although the Dutchman arrived at the club as a striker, he was turned into a right-winger by Rafa Benitez, becoming an indispensable part of the Liverpool set-up under the Spaniard.
While Kuyt was never among the most feared attackers in the Premier League, he was widely recognised as a workhorse and a tactically astute player, and he also went onto win over 100 caps for the Netherlands.
Dirk Kuyt reveals deadline day conversation with former Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy
It turns out that thing could have been very different for the Dutchman, who has revealed that he was the subject of an approach from Spurs a year before his switch to Anfield.
Kuyt revealed that Daniel Levy wanted to sign him on deadline day in the summer of 2005, but admitted that he did not want to make life difficult for Feyenoord by leaving so late.
The former Liverpool man told 1908: “I could have gone to Spurs on the final day, but I didn’t want to do that to Feyenoord.”
Expanding on his conversation with Leyy back then, Kuyt said: “I told him at the time: ‘I don’t want to do that to Feyenoord on the final day of the transfer window.’ At that point, you do find yourself thinking: ‘Will that opportunity ever come around again?’ But a year later, Liverpool came calling.”
Kuyt’s statement once again exposes Levy’s main shortcoming at Spurs
It is no secret that Levy was a big fan of deadline day deals, and he often waited until the last moment to make big plays in the transfer window.
The logic of the strategy was understandable, as it means that players are potentially available at a lower price, with clubs getting desperate to sell before deadline day.
However, the issue was that Tottenham often had no time to move for alternatives and ended up empty-handed, which potentially prevented them from taking the extra step to compete for silverware.
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