2 hours ago
2
A Colombian legend and Copa America winner has revealed how close he came to completing a switch to Tottenham Hotspur.
Oscar Cardoba had a long and distinguished career at both club and international level, winning 73 caps for Colombia.
The former goalkeeper was part of the famous Boca Juniors side of the late 1990s, which made history by dominating in the Copa Libertadores and winning the Intercontinental Cup against Real Madrid in 2000.
The 55-year-old has revealed that soon after that career high, Tottenham Hotspur came knocking on the door, and he was keen to join the North London club.
Oscar Cordoba reveals why his transfer to Tottenham did not go through
The Colombian legend claimed that following his victorious Copa America campaign in 2001, the Lilywhites made an offer to him.
However, he explained that while he had spoken to the Premier League side, the then Boca Juniors president, Mauricio Macri, prevented him from completing the move.
Cordoba told Infobae: “I had an offer from Tottenham as soon as I became champion of the Copa Libertadores, my second, and I lost the Intercontinental with Bayern Munich.
“The offer came. It was real. I spoke with the people at Tottenham. I presented the offer to Macri, and Macri said no. Macri tells me ‘No, here they offer three million, we want five. I tell him ‘Mauricio, I’m 32 years old, not even my mother pays that for me anymore’.”
Cordoba admits he fell out with Boca Juniors president over failed Spurs move
The 55-year-old would eventually move to Europe, first having a brief spell at Italian club Perugia before spending five seasons in Turkey, the majority of which was spent at Besiktas.
Cordoba explained that he decided to take up the first offer to leave Boca after they refused to allow him to move to White Hart Lane.
He continued: “They (Boca) tell us ‘the contract is going to be devalued according to what the currency devalues’ And I told him ‘no, wait a moment. I signed a contract with you in dollars’. He told me, ‘No, we can’t, because it’s a presidential order’, and I said, ‘Well then, I have to leave. First team that arrives for that team, I’m leaving.’
“Perugia arrived, and I was already playing. I said ‘no, I’m leaving’. The only thing I knew about Perugia was that a Korean was playing (for them).
Right now, I have a very good relationship (with Macri). But at that moment when he took away the possibility of reaching Tottenham, I told him, ‘No, I’m going anywhere and even more so with the economic problem’. So much so that Chicho left, Jorge left, Palermo left, we all ran away.”
Have something to tell us about this article?
English (US) ·