Tottenham reportedly had the chance to sign Brighton talent Evan Ferguson when he was 15, only to pull out of a prospective deal.
According to a report from Football Insider, Spurs pulled the plug on a move for the Irish prospect due to scouts being doubtful over whether he’d have the physicality for Premier League football.
The north London club had been watching the target man when he was breaking through at Bohemians in his homeland, with N17 talent spotters impressed by the potential being shown by the teenager.
However, talks over a possible deal hit the rocks when some scouts at Tottenham aired doubts over the likelihood of Ferguson’s physicality growing much further and whether his other attributes would compensate.
In the end it was Brighton who swooped in to bring the gifted Irishman to England in 2021, and he hasn’t looked back since.
Ferguson doesn’t turn 19 until next month but he’s already looked the part at Premier League level, scoring 10 goals in his first 24 top-flight games. Three of those came in last weekend’s win over Newcastle as he ruthlessly put Eddie Howe’s team to the sword.
That devastating hat-trick led to Gary Lineker proclaiming that he sees ‘a hint of [Erling] Haaland’ in the Republic of Ireland international (BBC Sport), while football finance expert Kieran Maguire said the youngster has ‘all the attributes of a young [Alan] Shearer’ and would be worth in excess of £100m in today’s market (Football Insider).
Admittedly the 18-year-old wouldn’t have had the same opportunity to prosper in the Premier League at this age had Tottenham snapped him up, as he’d have had Harry Kane ahead of him in the pecking order until the England captain left for Bayern Munich this summer.
Still, it’s difficult not to look at how Ferguson has thrived so much already and then compare that to the struggles of £60m signing Richarlison, who’s still netted just one top-flight goal for Spurs in 31 games.
Ange Postecoglou may well decide to try and lure the Brighton sensation to N17 in the future, but you can be sure that the striker would now cost exponentially more than what he’d have set Tottenham back if they’d sealed the deal for him as a relatively unknown 15-year-old.
There was no ‘deal’ to pull out of. Spurs, along with a dozen other clubs, looked at Ferguson. The scouts didn’t recommend him. That’s down to them, and not down to Levy either.