Defender Cristian Ramirez says he was blocked in Tottenham move

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Cristian Ramirez has told Spanish newspaper AS that he had a move to Tottenham Hotspur blocked back in 2013 while still at Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle.

Now 24 years of age, the 18-time Ecuador international is playing for Russian side Krasnodar. He faces Spanish outfit Valencia in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Ramirez finally left Ecuador in January 2013 to join German side Dusseldorf. He has since played for Nuremburg and Hungarian side Ferencvaros, before joining Krasnodar permanently in January 2017.

The defender stated that Spurs had tried to sign him but he had not played enough for his senior side to obtain a work permit. He also claimed that Borussia Dortmund failed to agree finances.

“That’s how it went. I was a youngster,” Ramirez said. “With Dortmund, I did not sign because my club in Ecuador did not want to reach an economic agreement. With Tottenham I could not sign because at that time I still had not played the necessary matches with my team.”

TBR’s view

Spurs have hardly missed out on the wonderkid of the century. Ramirez is a strong player with international experience, and is certainly a Europa League standard player.

Certainly Premier League standard, Ramirez is now 24 years of age but is unlikely to get any better.

Mauricio Pochettino has both Ben Davies and Danny Rose at his disposal, while Kyle Walker-Peters is more than adequate back-up. Not a big miss, but with Spurs academy, he could have been a big player.