Liverpool cult icon admits he could’ve joined Tottenham – Deadline day move rejected

Liverpool favourite Dirk Kuyt has admitted he could have joined Tottenham Hotspur before moving to Anfield.

Speaking on the Rondje Rob podcast, the Feyenoord legend explained why he rejected Spurs at the very last moment. He chose loyalty over a Premier League switch.

“I could have gone to Spurs”

The former Netherlands striker has revealed that he turned down Tottenham a year before moving to the Premier League with Liverpool.

He joined the Reds for €18m in August 2006. He went on to make 285 appearances at Anfield, bagging 75 goals and 40 assists and winning the league cup during his time in Red.

That saw him firmly establish himself as a fan favourite during his time on Merseyside. But things could have been very different, as Tottenham came calling a year earlier.

Kuyt confirmed that Tottenham, led by chairman Daniel Levy, made a serious push to sign him in the final hours of the window. But the forward refused to walk away from Feyenoord.

“I could have gone to Spurs on the final day, but I didn’t want to do that to Feyenoord,” 1908 report him saying.

He then expanded on that conversation with Levy. “I told him at the time: ‘I don’t want to do that to Feyenoord on the final day of the transfer window.’

“At that point, you do find yourself thinking: ‘Will that opportunity ever come around again?’ But a year later, Liverpool came calling.”

Atlético Madrid sent a private jet

Tottenham weren’t the only side who trying to prise Dirk Kuyt away from Feyenoord either. He revealed that Atlético Madrid also came incredibly close to securing his signature.

“The president of Atlético Madrid had sent a private jet to Rotterdam. He had the intention of flying us to Madrid,” he added.

“My agent said to me: ‘You have to realize: if we get on that plane, we’re not coming back.’ I felt it was a truly wonderful thing that we decided not to go through with it after all.”

No regrets

Fortunately for the former striker, it appears he has no regrets. He stayed loyal to Feyenoord. A year later he then got a big fee from Liverpool. Then he became a cult icon at Anfield.

He even then got a storybook ending back at Feyenoord. He returend at the end of his career and scored a hattrick in his final game to seal the title. That was their first in 18 years.

None of that might have been possible had he accepted Tottenham’s offer all those years ago, something it seems he’s clearly aware of.