The Daily Mail have claimed that Tottenham chief Daniel Levy turned down the chance to sign Manchester City defender Ruben Dias last summer. The powerful centre-back moved to the Premier League champions from Benfica last summer, and is now a contender for Player of the Season.
Dias, 24, caught the eye of numerous Premier League clubs last summer having clocked up 137 appearances for Benfica before he had turned 23. Eventually, City raided Benfica for the Portugal international. Since then, the City mainstay has been one of the division’s best players by some way.
Not only has he starred in Premier League football, but his performances were crucial in guiding Manchester City into the Champions League final. Clocking up 50 appearances in all competitions, Dias helped City keep a whopping 28 clean sheets during that time. He has been truly excellent.
But rewind to last summer, and it could have been very different. That is because, The Mail report that Tottenham and Levy were offered the chance to sign Dias for a fee of £50million. However, the Tottenham chairman turned it down. Since then, Spurs have really struggled in defence.
Jose Mourinho is certainly a fan of Dias. In February, while still Spurs boss, he told Sky Sports: “Ruben has an incredible influence on that improvement. I’m very pleased that a very good kid, very humble, very hard working, has arrived in the Premier League and makes the impact that he has made. I’m very, very pleased with that.”
Levy blunder: Dias would have taken Tottenham into the top four
The colossal defender is the perfect mix of everything you want in a centre-back. Incredibly strong, dominant in the air, sound positionally, good on the ball and at 24, a leader. He is the best centre-back in the Premier League at the moment, with Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk still working on his rehab.
Had he joined Tottenham, he would have plugged the gap. Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez are out of form and a new centre-back should be targeted. Had they signed Dias, Spurs would have been back in the top four. Instead, they finished seventh.
