A departing Tottenham man was labelled “miles” off the level of two academy stars by a player in the squad, according to club-connected John Wenham.
Spurs have seen four players leave the club this summer. Yves Bissouma’s contract ended, loanees Randal Kolo Muani and Joao Palhinha went back to their parent clubs, and Alejo Veliz was sold to Brazilian side Bahia.
The experiment of signing the Argentine striker did not work, after he played just eight games for Tottenham, and scored only once.
Wenham, who has connections within the club, heard Veliz was not rated by his peers.
He told Tottenham News: “It was quite unusual for us to recruit from that market anyway. It was just a gamble that we spent, I think it was $15million, so about £13m.
“I remember his first session, I won’t say who, but I was personally told by another academy player who was training with the first team at that time, asked how did this new guy look, and said that both [Will] Lankshear and [Jamie] Donley looked miles better – that was his words.
“I was slightly questioning why we’d gone to Argentina and brought in Alejo Veliz, he then had loans at Seville where he was handed the No.10 shirt, and a loan at Espanyol where he was handed the No.9 shirt, and then barely played, and when he did play, very few goals.
“He showed a bit of passion for Tottenham. I remember he had this game against Bournemouth where he had a really bad injury and then tried to carry on until he effectively collapsed on the floor.”
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Veliz did not work at Tottenham
Indeed, Spurs essentially paid £13million for a star who wasn’t as good as two they have developed for nothing – and who have just 10 senior appearances for the club between them.
Fortunately for Tottenham, they have received up to £9million by selling Veliz, so they’ve not lost an awful lot in the transfer.
Per Wenham, they’re still in the green on signing young players who have gone on to good things.
He said: “It never really worked out for him, but I think he’s just one of those, you take those gambles on young players, we’ve had great success with Lucas Bergvall, with Pape Matar Sarr to some extent, Archie Gray, Destiny Udogie, Luka Vuskovic.
“So we’ve had a lot of success recruiting younger players, but unfortunately on that one it just didn’t work.”
Bergvall is reportedly valued at £45million after asking to leave, though it’s subsequently come to light that Tottenham don’t want him to go, while Vuskovic has raised £50million.