‘The club was in a mess’ – Gary Lineker reveals how Spurs move turned into a nightmare
Gary Lineker has revealed that Tottenham made some big promises to him in order to get him to sign for the club in 1989 but quickly reneged on their promises in a matter of weeks.
Lineker was one of the biggest names in world football when he arrived at White Hart Lane on the back of a successful three-year spell in Barcelona.
Although the striker did quite well during his three seasons at North London, netting 67 goals in 105 appearances, the Lilywhites struggled during that time, being mired in mid-table mediocrity.
The 63-year-old explained that the situation looked quite different when he first signed for the club, admitting that he was keen to play with Chris Waddle, having struck up a great partnership with the former Spurs man in the England set-up.
Tottenham were a mess when Gary Lineker joined
However, Lineker revealed that it became apparent soon after he signed for the club that they were in financial trouble, admitting that he was shocked when Waddle was let go.
He said on The Rest Is Football podcast: “I got the news Chris Waddle had been sold about a month after I signed for Tottenham and he was one of the major reasons for signing, because I loved playing with Chris Waddle for England. He was unbelievably good and a fantastic crosser of the ball.
“I was on holiday [when he heard the news]. It was pre-season. I signed just at the end of the season in Spain and was coming back from Barcelona.
“Obviously, they had Gazza [Paul Gascoigne], Waddle and lots of really good [players]. I thought this is a side that, with another couple of signings [Tottenham could be a real force].
“When I signed, I had a good conversation with Terry Venables and he was saying; ‘We are really trying to get [Peter] Beardsley, as well. I thought that we would take some stopping.”
“Then all of a sudden it became quite apparent that the club had financial problems. If you remember it ended up with a takeover with Terry Venables and Alan Sugar was involved, all this kind of thing. The club was in a mess. So they got this offer of £4 million, which was a lot of money at the time, for Chris Waddle from Marseille.
“Going from signing Beardsley and playing up front with him, then suddenly I’d lost Chris Waddle. When I got the news on the beach, my agent called me and said; ‘You’re not going to believe this. They’ve just sold Chris Waddle’. Honestly, it felt like someone had stolen 15 goals a season from my pocket.”
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Lineker could have signed for nearly any side in world football at the time and his frustration is thus understandable. This also explains why the 63-year-old does not seem to have an affinity towards Tottenham in his avatar as a pundit.
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