Former Tottenham Hotspur recruitment chief Steve Hitchen has claimed the club came close to signing both Jack Grealish and Frenkie de Jong during his time at the club.
Hitchen's time with Spurs began as a scout, helping to recruit Luka Modric in 2008, and he also helped Liverpool strike a deal to sign Luis Suarez after moving to Anfield two years later. He would end up back with Spurs in 2017 as the new chief scout, before departing once again in 2022.
During his time leading the scouting department, Spurs landed the signatures of players like Cristian Romero and Pape Matar Sarr, but Hitchin claims Grealish and De Jong came close to adding their names to that list.
"We were very close to getting Jack Grealish, which probably would have been one of the best [signings you could make]," Hitchen told Decision Makers.
"Jack Grealish was a Tottenham [type of] player. He would have set the place alight. He had the skills, he would have got fans off their seats. He would have been a difference in that time.
"We had Dele Alli at that time, and I think them two would have pushed each other as well. To miss out on that player was massive in that period.
"And then we were really close to getting Frenkie de Jong - and I think, Frenkie de Jong, again, is a Tottenham player. I think he would have made a big difference for us. We had to replace the irreplaceable in [Mousa] Dembele. Probably Frenkie could have gone into that position and really succeeded at Spurs."
Grealish would end up joining Manchester City in the summer of 2021 for �100m, two years after De Jong's �65m switch to Barcelona.
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