Jean-Phillipe Gbamin’s career could have been very different, had his agent not persuaded him to join Everton instead of signing for big clubs like Tottenham Hotspur or Arsenal back in 2019.
Most players in the footballing world probably have a ‘what if’ moment in their careers, something they can look back on as a fork in the road, which has them wondering if they made the right decision.
At the moment, in the back of most Tottenham fans’ minds is probably the tantalising idea of what Harry Kane could do in this current Ange Postecoglou system, and whether it would be any better than the incredible success we are enjoying so far this season.
As well as players who have left Spurs, there are a great number of stars who nearly joined the North London club. A report from The Athletic back in 2020 revealed the likes of Rivaldo, Eden Hazard, and Jack Grealish have all been close to becoming a Lilywhite in the past.
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Gbamin was advised not to join Spurs
Jean-Phillipe Gbamin may not be quite as big a name as those stars, but he did have the option to join Tottenham from Mainz in 2019, but his agent has admitted he talked him out of it and told him to sign for Everton instead.
Speaking to The Guardian, Bernard Collignon said: “Arsenal and Tottenham wanted Jean-Philippe in 2019. Jurgen Klopp, who managed Mainz, had wanted [him] before signing Fabinho.
“But we chose Everton because if you arrive straight away at a big club in England, it’s very difficult to make it. N’Golo Kante would never have been the player he was at Chelsea if he didn’t arrive at Leicester.”
Gbamin would only make eight appearances for Everton due to injury (Transfermarkt), and was recently released as a free agent.
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I can’t say that Gbamin would have been a success at Spurs, or whether he would even have avoided his injury issues by being at a different club. But I bet he has those thoughts in his head, and at least wishes he had gone for the Spurs move instead of joining Everton.
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