I was sold a dream team when I signed for Tottenham - then my agent called

Former Tottenham forward Gary Lineker (Image: YOUTUBE/@therestisfootball)

Gary Lineker believes Tottenham 's decision to offload Chris Waddle shortly after his own arrival from Barcelona denied him as many as 15 goals per season for the club.

Lineker arrived in north London from the Camp Nou in 1989 and bagged 74 goals in 122 appearances across four campaigns, along with securing an FA Cup winner's medal. That Wembley triumph in 1991 represented Lineker's sole major honour in English football.

Nevertheless, the legendary television presenter requires little introduction regarding his prolific scoring record at Leicester, Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham. Lineker also found the net 48 times in 80 England appearances.

He formed a formidable partnership with Waddle at international level, with Waddle proving instrumental in Lineker's decision to join Tottenham 35 years ago, yet that anticipated collaboration never materialised as Marseille swiftly moved in with a £4.5million offer to secure Waddle's services.

The beloved former Match of the Day host reflected on those events during an instalment of the Rest Is Football podcast back in 2024. As usual, he was accompanied by Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.

Lineker revealed: "I got the news Chris Waddle had been sold about a month after I signed for Tottenham and he was one of the major reasons for signing, because I loved playing with Chris Waddle for England. He was unbelievably good and a fantastic crosser of the ball.

"I was on holiday [when he heard the news]. It was pre-season. I signed just at the end of the season in Spain and was coming back from Barcelona.

"Obviously, they had Gazza [Paul Gascoigne], Waddle and lots of really good [players]. I thought this is a side that, with another couple of signings [Tottenham could be a real force]."

64-year-old Lineker went on: "When I signed, I had a good conversation with Terry Venables and he was saying; 'We are really trying to get [Peter] Beardsley, as well. I thought that we would take some stopping.

"Then all of a sudden it became quite apparent that the club had financial problems. If you remember it ended up with a takeover with Terry Venables and Alan Sugar was involved, all this kind of thing. The club was in a mess. So they got this offer of £4million, which was a lot of money at the time, for Chris Waddle from Marseille.

"Going from signing Beardsley and playing up front with him, then suddenly I'd lost Chris Waddle. When I got the news on the beach, my agent called me and said; 'You're not going to believe this. They've just sold Chris Waddle'. Honestly, it felt like someone had stolen 15 goals a season from my pocket."