Tottenham Hotspur saw one of their best scouts and longest-standing servants depart the club this summer as David Pleat left his role.
Pleat had been a scout for the North London club for almost 14 years having joined that department in 2010. He also had spells as manager, caretaker manager and director of football.
At Tottenham, the 79-year-old always showed an incredible eye for promising talents in the Football League. He has been attributed for the signings of players like Dele Alli, Ben Davies and first making Spurs aware of James Maddison.
He was also responsible for bringing players like Christian Eriksen, Heung-min Son and Jan Vertonghen to N17.
Now, Pleat has revealed the three hugely successful Premier League stars he wanted Tottenham to sign but they never took his advice.
David Pleat wanted Bowen, Watkins and Toney at Tottenham
David Pleat has revealed that he wanted to sign Jarrod Bowen, Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney during his time at Tottenham.
The trio have all gone on to star in the Premier League, however, Spurs failed to take his advice on all three of them.
Bowen made a name for himself in the Championship at Hull City before moving to West Ham United in a deal worth £22 million – Pleat wanted him when he was valued at £8 million.
The legendary scout also wanted Toney for a similar price and told Spurs about Watkins when he was playing in League Two.
The Athletic claims: “Some players never end up at Spurs at all. Pleat says that he advised Tottenham to sign Jarrod Bowen for £8 million from Hull City, Ivan Toney for a similar price, and Ollie Watkins when he was still a box-to-box midfielder at Exeter City.
“He warns big clubs not to think that the only players good enough for them cost £40 million from foreign leagues, and points to the fact that in the 1980s Spurs signed Tony Galvin from Goole Town, Graham Roberts from Weymouth and Gary Mabbutt from Bristol Rovers.”
David Pleat wanted James Maddison when he was at Coventry U18
Pleat has also revealed that he wanted Tottenham to sign Maddison whilst he was playing for Coventry City’s Under-18s.
He told the Athletic: “The boy Maddison was so good it was like he had eyes in the back of his head. I went into Tottenham the following morning and said, ‘There’s a boy at Coventry we should sign tomorrow.’ It was an open goal. They didn’t chase it.”
When the midfielder eventually arrived at Tottenham during the summer of 2023, he joked with him that he was “£40 million too late”.
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