9 players who rejected Tottenham including Ballon d'Or winner and Premier League great

Mathys Tel has done a U-turn and signed for Tottenham on loan after reportedly turning down the club in the closing days of the January 2025 transfer window. But the French forward wouldn’t have been the first to decide against a move to Spurs.
For whatever reason, Tottenham have failed to attract the calibre of player needed to ascend to the next level but that certainly isn’t for a lack of trying. Whereas Daniel Levy has been a roadblock with his strict financial dealings, there have been many reasons why players have avoided a move to North London.
Here are eight players who rejected a move to Spurs during the Daniel Levy era.
Fikayo Tomori
Beginning with a very recent rejection, the AC Milan centre-back was targeted to help end their defensive crisis that has left 18-year-old midfielder Archie Gray to play a significant role in the absence of both Cristian Romero and Micky van den Ven – with the added headache of Radu Dragusin suffering an ACL injury.
Tomori, a star figure in the Rossoneri’s Scudetto triumph in 2022, has started just 10 league games this season in total. Never given a fair chance at Chelsea, Spurs tried to bring him back in January 2025 only to be rejected. The 27-year-old may secure an exit in the summer but it is unlikely to be Spurs he links up with – especially considering he came through Chelsea’s academy.
Willian
“He got the call from Abramovich, and off he went to Stamford Bridge. He hates Tottenham, he hates Tottenham…”
His rejection was so famous that it sparked one of Chelsea’s most memorable chants.
A star at Anzhi Makhachkala and Shakhtar Donetsk before that, Willian had his choice of multiple clubs. He was at Spurs’ training ground, set to put pen to paper when he was told of an offer from Chelsea. He later called it the ‘best decision of his career’ and after winning the Europa League, the Premier League twice, the FA Cup and the League Cup, it’s safe to say he won’t have any regrets.
Marcus Rashford
Having been made available during this window, many clubs were alerted to the news given Rashford’s past form and quality. Spurs inevitably asked the question and hoped to be in the running but fell away in the home stretch as he agreed a deal with Villa, rejecting Spurs.
At this moment in time, with the promise of Champions League knockout football, Villa’s offer was evidently more appealing. If it was a few seasons ago, then Spurs would have surely been the right choice for Rashford. A blow to miss out on a player who you can imagine thriving under Postecoglou.
READ NEXT: 7 forgotten Tottenham academy graduates who became cult heroes elsewhere
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name these Tottenham academy graduates from their Wikipedia career page?
Eden Hazard
The Lille winger had every club in Europe after him in 2012 after he had just starred in Ligue 1 for three years. With offers on the table from multiple English clubs, Hazard took his time and evaluated the landscape, even before the summer window had even opened.
Harry Redknapp claimed to have Hazard in his hotel room for over an hour but following Chelsea’s Champions League win, which relegated fourth-placed Spurs to the Europa League and simultaneously confirmed Chelsea’s place in the competition for the following year, he opted to sign for the European champions, confirming his move with a now-famous tweet.
Axel Disasi
Chelsea have been looking to offload the French centre-back in the January window but haven’t been able to find a suitor as of yet. Spurs, needing a centre-back, threw their hat into the ring but the former Monaco defender was quick to dismiss his current employer’s London rivals.
The latest news suggests that there is no wiggle room or chance of a turnaround with Spurs reportedly ending their interest in the defender and Aston Villa moving to sign him on loan. Let’s see if he and Rashford can kick over the next few months under Unai Emery.
Rivaldo
Heading back to 2002, Spurs were looking for a big statement signing and the Brazilian superstar was available on a free transfer. It is said that Spurs were close to completing a deal but he opted for AC Milan.
He even sent a letter explaining why he chose the Italian club, which was a touch of class, but no matter how close he was, this one always seemed like a pipe dream.
David Raya
This is certainly an interesting example of one who got away from Spurs. After being told it was £40million or no deal by Brentford, Raya was then able to leave to join Arsenal for a fee of around £27million.
A frustrating deal for multiple reasons, losing a player of his quality to their North London rivals hurt and it was made all the worse given how Guglielmo Vicario has struggled with injuries across his time at the club.
Randal Kolo Muani
In another recent deal that went askew, the Paris Saint-Germain forward was there for the taking after being told he was allowed to leave in a temporary loan deal by the French club after falling out of favour with Luis Enrique.
He opted for Juventus, a club with strong prestige, a young and progressive manager and a team still in the Champions League rather than join struggling Spurs. Having netted three goals in two games so far, we can’t imagine he’ll be looking back with any regrets.