Tottenham Hotspur have missed out on some big-name transfers over the years.
Eden Hazard almost joined Tottenham at one point, while Bruno Fernandes almost signed for Spurs before moving to Manchester United.
However, one of the best players Spurs have missed out on in recent years is Paulo Dybala.
Tottenham wanted Dybala a few years ago, but a deal collapsed late in the day due to image rights.
Dybala is a Serie A great, and speaking to Sports Illustrated, Dybala has now made an interesting claim about a manager he nearly worked under at Spurs.
Indeed, while it was Mauricio Pochettino who nearly signed Dybala, the Argentine would’ve ended up working under Jose Mourinho a few months later had he joined Tottenham.
Now, Dybala has labelled Mourinho as a ‘special’ and ‘unique’ manager after working with him at Roma.
Paulo Dybala calls Jose Mourinho special
Dybala spoke about Mourinho after working with him at Roma.
The attacker called his former manager a special coach and a unique manager.
Unfortunately, we never got to see these two combine at Tottenham, but they very nearly did work together in north London.
“Tiago Pinto told me that Mourinho wants to talk to me (to sign for Roma). Mourinho is special. He’s a coach who has won almost everything. He’s been at the most important clubs in the world. He’s unique,” Dybala said.
“I knew he would convince me and that’s why I wanted to wait.”
Paulo Dybala record under Jose Mourinho
Dybala clearly loved his time under Mourinho at Roma, and the stats reflect that.
Indeed, despite playing in a deeper role under Mourinho, Dybala produced some incredible performances for Roma during that time.
Dybala’s stats under Mourinho tell the entire story, the Argentine played some of the best football of his career under the former Spurs boss.
| Paulo Dybala record under Jose Mourinho | |
| Games | 56 |
| Goals | 24 |
| Assists | 14 |
It’s impossible not to ponder what could have been at Tottenham had Dybala and Mourinho worked together, a front three of Heung-Min Son, Harry Kane and Dybala playing just behind is a mouth-watering idea, but, sadly, it never came to fruition.
Ultimately, Mourinho was sacked by Spurs in 2021 before moving to Roma, and it’s no coincidence that one of his first actions as Roma boss was to go and sign Dybala.
