I won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 but I regret not joining Tottenham Hotspur

Former Middlesbrough icon, Juninho Paulista, has made an interesting revelation about how close he came to a move to Tottenham Hotspur.

At a time when not a lot of Brazilians found it easy to adapt to English football, Paulista was one of the first trailblazers from his country to make a name for himself in the Premier League.

Across his three stints at Boro (including his loan spell), the attacking midfielder made 150 appearances, scoring 34 goals and providing 18 assists.

He wrote his name into the club’s history books by winning the 2004 League Cup, and he has now made an admission about having a chance to move to bigger Premier League clubs.

Juninho Paulista regrets turning down Tottenham move

Paulista has now revealed that when his time at the Riverside Stadium was coming to an end, he had the opportunity to move to Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur.

The 53-year-old, who won 49 caps for Brazil, confessed that he would move to White Hart Lane or Anfield if he got the chance to rewind time. Juninho even won the World Cup in 2002 and claimed a bronze medal at the Olympics in 1996.

Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–1995	São Paulo	44	(2)
1995–1997	Middlesbrough	57	(12)
1997–2002	Atlético Madrid	55	(14)
1999–2000	→ Middlesbrough (loan)	28	(4)
2000–2001	→ Vasco da Gama (loan)	47	(13)
2002	→ Flamengo (loan)	0	(0)
2002–2004	Middlesbrough	35	(11)
2004–2005	Celtic	14	(1)
2005–2006	Palmeiras	63	(20)
2007	Flamengo	0	(0)
2007–2008	Sydney FC	14	(0)
2010	Ituano	2	(2)
Total		359	(79)

Paulita said on the Charla podcast: “There was interest from Manchester United, but they didn’t want to pay what Middlesbrough wanted. I think it was £12m (€14m). Ferguson didn’t want to pay.

“Liverpool and Tottenham made offers. If I had the awareness I have today, I wouldn’t have left England. I would have gone to Liverpool or Tottenham.”

All eyes on Roberto De Zerbi and Spurs

On Sunday, Tottenham made the inevitable announcement that they had parted ways with Igor Tudor, with the Croat lasting just 44 days at the helm.

The former Juventus boss leaves Spurs just a point off the relegation zone with seven league games left.

Tottenham are expected to confirm Roberto De Zerbi in the coming hours as the club attempt one last throw of the dice in a bid to avert relegation disaster.

• READ MORE: Six reasons why Roberto De Zerbi to Tottenham Hotspur could end in disaster

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