Tottenham legend Steve Perryman has admitted that the North London club were interested in signing Ollie Watkins in the summer and that Jose Mourinho even asked him about the striker.
Watkins had a brilliant season with Brentford last time out before being snapped up by Aston Villa in the summer transfer window.
The 25-year-old has made a decent start to his career at Villa Park but reports during the summer indicated that Tottenham were also interested in his signature.
Football Insider claimed that Watkins was keen on joining Spurs when he heard of the club’s interest but eventually decided to reunite with Dean Smith due to Spurs’ unwillingness to match Brentford’s asking price.
In the end, Tottenham ended adding to their front line by signing Carlos Vinicius on a season-long loan deal from Benfica instead.
Perryman, who is the record appearance holder for Tottenham, was the director of football at Exeter City when Watkins left the Grecians to join Brentford.
The former Tottenham defender admitted that Mourinho asked him about the pacy striker before his move to Villa.
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Perryman told talkSPORT: “The only influence I’ve had at Brentford in the past however many years was to be part of the Exeter City regime that sold Ollie Watkins to them.
“They made him into a player… well, he was going to be a player anyway, but he’s doing terrifically well now at Aston Villa, and Exeter have earned their money out of him with sell-on fees.
“Tottenham did have two little bites at Ollie Watkins, I have to say.
“When eventually he went to Brentford I know David Pleat was very, very strong that Tottenham should have a poke at him, but they ultimately didn’t.
“I eventually spoke to Jose, for the first-ever time in my life, when he phoned me and asked me my opinion on Ollie.
“I told him what I knew and gave him my take on it all, but they went in a different direction, and I’m not saying they were wrong to have done that.
“But in a way, it was a good move for Ollie because he’s playing every week at Aston Villa, and if he had signed for Tottenham I’m not sure that he would be playing every week.
“Tottenham would have been a tough call for him.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Ollie Watkins is fantastic at running the channels and could have been a decent addition to our squad. However, I can understand why the club went for someone like Vinicius who is more of a target man as that is what the squad was lacking.
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