Tottenham legend reveals how a row with the chairman led to his N17 exit

Teddy Sheringham has explained why he made the decision to leave Tottenham Hotspur in 1997, shedding light on the interesting conversation he had with the club’s former owner and chairman, Alan Sugar, prior to his move to Manchester United.

Sheringham is considered by many Spurs fans to be among the best strikes to have graced the White Hart Lane pitch during the Premier League era.

The former England striker scored 97 goals for Spurs in 236 appearances across two spells, even captaining Tottenham when he returned to the club for a second spell in 2001.

The 58-year-old has now explained why he decided to swap the Lilywhites for Man Utd back in 1997.

Teddy Sheringham reveals why he left Tottenham

The legendary striker forged a formidable partnership with Jurgen Klinsmann during his time at N17, with the two combining brilliantly together.

That strike-pairing was up there with the best fans have seen at Spurs in the Premier League era, alongside Kane-Son, Berbatov-Keane, and Crouch-Defoe.

Sheringham has now revealed it frustrated him when Tottenham decided to sell Klinsmann, which is when he realised that the club were not prioritising building a strong team.

He said on Off The Shelf Podcast: “I wanted the best players in the world to come and play with me at Tottenham. Klinsmann came here, Popescu, you know, we had Darren (Anderton), Nicky Barnby was on the scene.

“They were top players. I wanted the best players to come and play with me. Once Klinsmann left the first time, it was, that was not going to happen.

“They were, for some reason, Tottenham got their fingers burnt and they were not going to sign the top players that I wanted to play with. In the end, I had a row with the chairman and I just said, look, I want to go and he said, well, go on then, in no uncertain terms, go on, if you want to go. If you can’t tell me that we’re going to be signing these top players again, I don’t want to be here.

“He went, well, go on then, go. It was like, okay. I was lucky enough that Man United came in for me and fitted into a team that was already a machine.”

Sheringham’s words should serve as a warning to Spurs hierarchy

While what Sheringham describes happened almost three decades ago under different ownership, it should serve as a warning to the current Spurs board about the importance of building a title-winning team.

We are already hearing reports that Cristian Romero is hesitating to sign a new Spurs contract as he wants to play Champions League football, and the club’s other top players could do the same.

If Tottenham want to retain their best players, they will have to show ambition in the transfer market and demonstrate their intention to compete for trophies.

READ MORE: Aaron Lennon sets record straight on rumoured fallout with Mauricio Pochettino

The post Tottenham legend reveals how a row with the chairman led to his N17 exit appeared first on Spurs Web.