Lescott claims Moyes turned down the chance to sign a young Gareth Bale at Everton
Joleon Lescott has claimed that David Moyes turned down the chance to sign Gareth Bale for Everton when he was at Tottenham.
Bale rejoined Tottenham Hotspur on loan this summer, seven years after swapping White Hart Lane for the Bernabeu in a world-record transfer deal.
But Lescott has spoken of an occasion after Everton and Tottenham played each other, where Harry Redknapp tried to engineer a move that would see Leighton Baines and Gareth Bale swap clubs.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Lescott said, “Coming in after the game Bainesy, who I was really close with, we were talking and Harry Redknapp wanted to swap them.
“He pulled Baines to one side, had a conversation with him, so I asked ‘What was going on there? He said they were interested in doing a swap for Bale. One of the main reasons that didn’t happen was because Bale’s record was so bad and David Moyes didn’t want to swap”.
It is hard to imagine what would’ve happened had Baines and Bale had swapped places, perhaps Bale wouldn’t have developed as he did at Spurs and become a Toffees flop.
Lescott’s story presents a real sliding doors moment for Everton and it could be up there as one of the great ‘what ifs’ in the club’s history.
Bale has only made a handful of appearances for Tottenham this season since rejoining his former club and he has only started one game as he isn’t yet fully fit. He hadn’t signed when the Toffees beat Spurs on the opening day of the Premier League season.
A different man from Madrid is one of the Toffees’ standout players this season. James Rodriguez arrived at Goodison Park this summer and has had a massive impact for his new side as he has registered three goals and three assists in his first six games for the club.
Although Rodriguez couldn’t stop Everton from losing their unbeaten streak as they lost 2-0 to Southampton last weekend in what was a very disappointing performance from Carlo Ancelotti’s side. Everton will look to get back to winning ways when they travel to Newcastle on Sunday.
In other Everton news, the Toffees are watching a Rangers midfielder that Steven Gerrard is desperate to keep.