1. David Beckham
Rui Vieira/PA Archive/Press Association ImagesDavid Beckham, despite famously signing his first professional contract with Manchester United, is actually a Londoner and, as a kid, he attended Tottenhams school of excellence. Indeed, the only reason that he didn't sign professional terms, rather surprisingly, was due to the incompetence of Terry Venables. About the situation with Venables (who was the Lilywhites' manager at the time) and the potential signing of a professional contract with the White Hart Lane club, Beckham said "I'd been happy training at Spurs and got on well with their youth development officer John Moncur. But the meeting left me feeling I had more questions than answers. Although I'd been training at Spurs for a couple of years, the manager didn't really have any idea who I was. I couldn't help thinking about the times I'd been up to Manchester. Alex Ferguson knew all about me. That seemed important to me. Terry said, 'So, would you like to sign for Tottenham?' I said, 'I'd like to think about it.' In my head, though, I was shouting: 'It's got to be United!'" So, thanks to Terry Venables not even knowing who one of his club's own special young talents was, Spurs missed out the potential signing of someone who would go on to be a global superstar, a great footballer and a marketing dream. Damn you, Tel! Of course, Spurs also tried to sign Becks
as recently as 2011, but that didn't happen either. So there you have it - ten players you didn't know Tottenham Hotspur almost signed. Did you like this list? Who else did Spurs nearly sign? Let us know in the comments section below. And please feel free to follow me on
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