It’s no secret that Tottenham Hotspur tried to sign Willian José in the January transfer window. Both the Spanish and English press made big coverage out of it, although the move could never be agreed.
But it turns out that Spurs had some competition from the Premier League to get the player, with Manchester United and Newcastle United also following him.
These details have been revealed by Willian José’s agent, Nick Arcuri, in a live chat with Brazilian journalist Jorge Nicola on Tuesday night.
Arcuri first described how Brazilian clubs weren’t patient with the striker, and now see him succeeding in Europe.
“Today he’s a player that the whole world has an interest in. I’ve just revealed here that he was almost closed with Tottenham. An amount that Real Sociedad found interesting at the moment, but needed a replacement because it’s a proposal in the middle of the market and when it is mid-season, it’s difficult.
“But he’s a player who now shines a lot in the eyes of the English market, of the Spanish market itself, Barcelona themselves were interested in his signing, but were unable to reach an agreement with Real Sociedad.”
Then, without being even questioned about, he’s revealed that many other clubs tried the signing.
“So I tell everyone, just in this January market, he had, that’s official, alright Jorge? He had Barcelona, he had Tottenham, he had Manchester United, he had Newcastle. Then, just there, again, he speaks for himself.”
When asked about who got closest on signing Willian José in the January window, he claimed it was Tottenham.
“Tottenham. They got to offer between… they wanted to offer a player and an amount, so it was about €30m.”
Then Arcuri was quizzed about how far Barcelona got in the talks, and he said they offered less than Spurs.
“Barcelona… it’s not that they offered little … they offered less because of Barcelona’s financial condition. So they offered less and it turned out that Real Sociedad spoke once from club to club and didn’t even want to continue.”
