Les Ferdinand has described his 1997 move from Newcastle United to Tottenham Hotspur as the worst decision of his career, a warning that will not be lost on Sandro Tonali as he prepares to face his former club this weekend.
Tonali joined Spurs from Newcastle this summer in a deal worth up to £100million and will line up against the Magpies on Saturday. The Italian said it took him just "10 minutes" to agree to the move after speaking with Roberto De Zerbi. Ferdinand, however, spent years regretting his own switch from the north east to north London.
Ferdinand's Regret Over Leaving Newcastle
Speaking on the Sky Sports News Transfer Talk podcast in 2019, Ferdinand said: "I didn’t want to leave Newcastle United. I was there for two years and I would have spent the rest of my career there. I thought it was a great club and thought we were on the cusp of winning something."
The former striker believed manager Kenny Dalglish wanted to keep him but needed to raise funds. "Kenny had his own ideas, he came in and he needed to raise funds. He did say to me he didn’t want me to leave, but the club were looking to raise funds, and he was pretty honest with me," Ferdinand explained.
Tottenham offered £6million, while Liverpool were only willing to pay £3.5million and Sheffield Wednesday also matched the £6million bid. Ferdinand chose Spurs because they were his boyhood club, despite knowing the club was in "a bit of turmoil" at the time. He was convinced to sign after speaking with Alan Sugar.
Turmoil at Tottenham
The move did not live up to expectations. Ferdinand said: "People go through their careers and say they don’t have regrets, but from a football perspective that was probably the worst decision I made. Tottenham were a club in unbelievable turmoil and I didn’t realise how bad it was until I got there."
He added: "In my first five years, I had four different managers and a change of board, so that tells you the type of turmoil the club was in. I made a decision based on pride rather than what was best for my football career."
Despite the difficulties, Ferdinand said he enjoyed playing for Tottenham, but the circumstances of his departure from Newcastle left a sour taste. He felt "shabbily treated" after the club initially accepted Tottenham's bid and then tried to bring him back when Alan Shearer broke his ankle at the Umbro tournament.
Ferdinand recalled: "I had the medical on the Friday and I was sitting in a restaurant on the Saturday when I got a call from my agent saying that Alan had broken his ankle at the Umbro tournament and could be out for the season. He said Newcastle want me to come back, but they were not allowed to speak to me."
Newcastle attempted to persuade him to return through his agent, but Ferdinand had already made up his mind. He said: "I felt bad for the supporters, I really wanted to go back because I really enjoyed playing in front of them. But didn’t feel what the club had done was right."
