Colombian icon Óscar Cordoba has revealed how he saw a move to Tottenham Hotspur pulled away from him.
Infobae cover comments from the former goalkeeper today. He revealed all in an interview in the Agradable y Claro podcast.
Cordoba’s career is one of the most successful in Colombian football. He was a part of the famous Boca Juniors side of the late 90s that made history in South American and world football.
Alongside the likes of Juan Román Riquelme and Walter Samuel, he was a key player in a team that dominated the Copa Libertadores and won the Intercontinental Cup against Real Madrid in 2000. He was also a part of the Colombian team that won the Copa América in 2001.
Like many players in both squads, he started to look towards Europe and a potential transfer. And according to Cordoba, he could have joined Tottenham. In fact, a deal was done, before a combination of an unwilling president and Argentina’s financial collapse meant it didn’t happen.
“I had an offer from Tottenham as soon as I became champion of the Copa Libertadores, my second, and I lost the Intercontinental with Bayern Munich,” he said.
“The offer came. It was real. I spoke with the people at Tottenham. I presented the offer to Macri and Macri said no.
“Mauricio Macri tells me ‘no, here they offer three million, we want five. I tell him ‘Mauricio, I’m 32 years old, not even my mother pays that for me anymore’.
“They tell us ‘the contract is going to be devalued according to what the currency devalues’. And I told him ‘no, wait a moment. I signed a contract with you in dollars’. He told me ‘No, we can’t, because it’s a presidential order’, and I said ‘Well then, I have to leave. First team that arrives for that team I’m leaving.’
“Perugia arrived and I was already playing. I said ‘no, I’m leaving.’ The only thing I knew about Perugia was that a Korean was playing (for them).
“Right now, I have a very good relationship (with Macri). But at that moment when he took away the possibility of reaching Tottenham, I told him ‘no, I’m going anywhere and even more so with the economic problem’. So much so that Chicho left, Jorge left, Palermo left, we all ran away.”