He wanted Hulk, Joao Moutinho and David Villa. They gave him Paulinho, Nacer Chadli and Roberto Soldado. In many ways, you can't blame Andre Villas-Boas for becoming disgruntled with the newly-acquired deadwood at his disposal, and ultimately failing in the absence of Gareth Bale. While Hulk has flattered to deceive throughout his career, and Moutinho always had eyes for the euros on offer at Monaco, Spanish clinician David Villa would have been one hell of a statement of intent. Villa's CV reads like a mouth-watering document of what a professional footballer should aspire to. Having ousted revered compatriot Raul from the Spanish squad, Villa has established himself as Spain's all-time record goal-scorer, helped himself to two European Championship medals and a World Cup, three La Ligas and a Champions League amongst other domestic trophies. Oh, and a Euro 2008 Golden Boot. It's no surprise that Villas-Boas had his eyes firmly set on the Barcelona forward last summer, due to his public availability. According to Villa, however, it's not his fault that the move never materialised. ''It's true the idea was for me to go to the Premier League, because the biggest offers came from there. But then Athletico Madrid showed up and they did more in three days than others did in six months.'' - David Villa, July 2013. It wasn't the first time Spurs had tried to sign the deadly Spaniard, with Juande Ramos claiming that it was Levy's inability to thrash out a deal for the former Barcelona hot-shot that scuppered his chances of success at White Hart Lane. ''We negotiated with Villa, when he was one of the world's best. Levy's a hard, hard negotiator and in the end it didn't negotiator. So we were left with Bent and Campbell. We couldn't beat anyone. We couldn't have scored if we'd used a rainbow as the goalposts.'' - Juande Ramos, February 2014. What do they say about bad workmen?
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
