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Teddy Sheringham on Tottenham trying to sign Maradona

Former Tottenham and Manchester United striker Teddy Sheringham has revealed that Spurs attempted...



Teddy Sheringham on Tottenham...
Soccer

Teddy Sheringham on Tottenham trying to sign Maradona

Former Tottenham and Manchester United striker Teddy Sheringham has revealed that Spurs attempted to bring Diego Maradona to the Premier League in the early 1990s.

Maradona's fellow Argentinean Ossie Ardiles was manager at the time in 1993-94 and the ex-Tottenham cult hero was looking for a marquee player.

Ultimately it was Germany's 1990 World Cup winner Jurgen Klinsmann who would arrive for the 1994-95 season, going on to become a cult hero figure at the club as well as forming a strike partnership with Sheringham.

The latter was speaking to Stadium Astro when he revealed the story of Maradona's near arrival in North London.

"I got on really well with Ossie and I think Gary Mabbutt was out so I was captain at the time. Ossie came to me one day and said 'I just want your opinion, I'm thinking about signing someone,'" said Sheringham.

"I was like 'go on, go on' and he was like 'Diego Maradona', and I went 'Ossie, Ossie, really!? Are you?' I went, 'Do it, just do it'".

Sheringham continued,"[Ossie] said, 'I'm in talks with him at the moment' and I was like 'Oh, my God, just do it. It'll be brilliant to play with him'. So he came to me about three days later and was like 'Do you know what? I've decided not to sign Diego. He's got too much baggage around him'".

Maradona left Sevilla after the 1992-93 season and spent the following campaign at Newell's Old Boys in Argentina.

But the 1994 World Cup would see the 1986 tournament winner kicked out of USA 94 after testing positive for a banned substance. 

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