For much of the last decade Tottenham Hotspur were driven by boyhood Arsenal fan Harry Kane – at least until their star man departed for Bayern Munich last summer.
But Kane may have never had the opportunity to breakthrough back in 2014, had Tottenham signed legendary Peru striker Paulo Guerrero. In January 2013, Guerrero was looking to looking to leave Brazilian side Corinthians and return to Europe having previously spent 12 years in the Bundesliga.
The Premier League, and specifically Tottenham Hotspur, were his first choice. However, it was ironically a former Arsenal player who ended up scuppering the deal and denying Guerrero the chance to move to North London.
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How Arsenal's Edu blocked Tottenham from signing Paulo Guerrero
Former Arsenal midfielder – part of the immortal ‘Invincibles’ team - and current Gunners sporting director Edu was responsible for Guerrero’s transfer falling through.
The Peru legend has revealed that while at Corinthians, Spurs were close to signing him in January 2013. That was before a last minute intervention, where Edu - then Corinthians director of football - promised Guerrero a pay rise to stay.
Speaking to the D&T programme, Guerrero said: “When I arrived at Corinthians, I said to myself: ‘I win the Club World Cup and I’ll go back’.
“Did I have opportunities to return to Europe? Many, but Corinthians didn’t want to sell me or didn’t want to negotiate. The last offer came from Tottenham, which was a loan-purchase option.”
“I went with the proposal to talk to Edu, who is now Arsenal’s director, and I said ‘I have this, please’. His response was: ‘Do you want the crooked thing to kill me, Paolo? Rest assured that here you will be the highest paid footballer in South America’.
“He didn’t comply. I didn’t renew with Corinthians because the proposal they made me wasn’t within what I think I deserved. I believed that because I was Peruvian, they were not valuing me.”
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Guerrero eventually did leave Corinthians, but not until 2015, where he instead joined Brazilian rivals Flamengo rather than move to England.
Now 40, Guerrero has still yet to return to Europe since leaving Hamburg in 2012, but remains a legend in South America, winning 122 caps for his country.
After failing to land Guerrero, later that year Spurs instead signed Spanish forward Roberto Soldado. However, Soldado struggled to adapt to English football, paving the way for Kane’s opportunity to break into the first team in 2014.
Had the Peruvian signed and become a success at White Hart Lane, things could have turned out very differently for Guerrero, Tottenham and maybe even Kane.
