Alessandro Diamanti has claimed that current Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho rejecting the chance to sign him twice whilst he was in charge of Inter Milan preceded his move to West Ham 10 years ago, as quoted by Tutto Mercato Web.
The Hammers signed the now 36-year-old from Livorno in the summer of 2009 for around £6 million (BBC).
The Italian scored eight goals in 30 games for West Ham (Soccerbase). And he scored some seriously good goals during his time in east London.
Since leaving the Hammers, Diamanti has played for Brescia, Bologna, Guangzhou Evergrande, Fiorentina, Watford, Atalanta, Palermo and Perugia. He is now plying his trade in Australia with Western United.
Things could have been very different for the 36-year-old
The skilful forward could have been part of Inter Milan’s Champions League winning team in 2010, however, according to the player himself.
Diamanti spoke about current Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho rejecting him twice before he joined West Ham, as quoted by Tutto Mercato Web:
“I was close to Inter, yes. Moratti really wanted me because I reminded him of Recoba. Then they took Mourinho who said ‘who?’. He wanted Deco, my agent rang me to tell me that and told him [Mourinho] was right. Then Deco went to Chelsea and I rang my agent to see if it could happen. He told me: no, now he wants Sneijder. I told him again he was right. In the end, I went to West Ham. considering they then won the treble, they did well”.
Diamanti was a popular player at West Ham, despite staying in east London for only a year.
He had so much talent. But it could be argued that he never really lived up to his full potential.
The Italian has enjoyed a decent career nonetheless.
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