Levy wanted Spurs to sign amazing star for £450k, now he’s worth £152m

Brennan Johnson has had quite the week. Following the north London derby the Tottenham winger was forced to delete his Instagram page.

The Welshman was a target of vile abuse across social media after his display against the Gunners but it’s a testament to his character as to how he’s bounced back over the last two games.

Johnson scored the winning goal against Coventry City in the EFL Cup and then scored once again when Brentford visited Spurs on a Saturday afternoon.

The former Nottingham Forest star went from the boo boy to the saviour. It now really does feel like his Tottenham career is off the ground.

Johnson’s career could hardly be considered a failure up to this point but Spurs have signed some notable duds throughout the years in the forward positions.

Remember Roberto Soldado? Of course, you do. Remember Clinton N’Jie? Yikes, Daniel Levy hasn’t always got things right, has he?

Johnson can count his lucky stars that he wasn’t quite as bad as a certain Vincent Janssen was for the Lilywhites.

Vincent Janssen’s time at Spurs

In the summer of 2016, the London club raided the Netherlands to bring AZ Alkmaar striker Vincent Janssen to White Hart Lane in an £18.6m deal.

Upon his arrival in the Premier League, Mauricio Pochettino was seemingly delighted to be adding to his strike force which included rising star Harry Kane, suggesting the Dutchman “ticked all of the boxes that we needed.”

Well, if those boxes included the words ‘failed signing’ then he certainly did tick that.

The forward’s time on English shores was sadly unsuccessful as the now 30-year-old scored just six goals across 42 outings before departing for Monterrey in Mexico.

Now playing for Royal Antwerp in Belgium, Janssen has rediscovered himself, finding the net on 17 occasions during the 2023/24 season.

It could have been oh-so different for the Netherlands international. It could have been incredibly different for Spurs too who missed out on a certain Kylian Mbappe the same year Janssen signed.

When Spurs missed out on Kylian Mbappe

We’re casting your minds back to the winter of 2015/16 with this famed tale. It was a cold December evening when Daniel Levy was impressed with what he saw of a teen Mbappe.

He appeared as a second-half substitute for Monaco against Pochettino’s side in the Europa League where a 16-year-old Mbappe swiftly picked up an assist. After that, scouts were reportedly sent to watch the player in action but sadly a move did never materialise.

Real Madrid – his current club – were already interested but the Frenchman was smart and stuck around in France to undergo the next stage of his development.

Mbappe would eventually go on to sign for PSG but not before he penned his first professional contract with the principality, thus removing the possibility of acquiring the wonderkid on a £450,000 compensation deal.

We all know what happened next. The forward is a World Cup winner, in contention for the Ballon d’Or and the scorer of many a goal.

At PSG, the 25-year-old sensation scored 256 goals in 308 games and has already found the net six times in eight games for Madrid.

He’s a remarkable talent, one now valued at an almighty price tag of £152m and just ever so slightly better than the aforementioned Janssen.

We jest, of course, but this is a classic story of what might have been for all parties here. Mbappe was only in his formative years but the talent was clearly there and Spurs – had they performed an impressive sales pitch – could have been the owners of one of the finest talents in world football.

They did, at least, have Kane at their disposal so it’s not all bad. Just imagine the two of them playing together in the same team.