Argentina legend Diego Maradona nearly signed for Tottenham, according to Teddy Sheringham.

Maradona is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, thanks to illustrious spells at Barcelona and Napoli.

And former Spurs boss Ossie Ardiles attempted to bring Maradona to White Hart Lane during the twilight years of the midfielder's career.

Ardiles asked Sheringham for his opinion on Maradona's potential move before eventually opting against a deal to bring his countryman to England.

"I got on really well with Ossie, and I think I was the captain at the time, and Ossie came to me one day and said 'I want your opinion, I'm thinking about signing someone'," Sheringham told Stadium Astro.

"And I was like 'go on' and he was like 'Diego Maradona', and I went 'Ossie, Ossie, really!? Are you? Do it, just do it'.

"He said 'I'm in talks with him at the moment' and I was like 'my God, do it, it would be brilliant to play with him'.

"He came to me about three days later and was like 'I've decided not to sign Diego, he's got too much baggage around him'."

Maradona did pull on a Spurs shirt once when he appeared in Ardiles' testimonial.

The disappointment of missing out on Maradona did not last long for Sheringham as World Cup winner Jurgen Klinsmann soon arrived to bolster the Spurs front line.

Meanwhile, current Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino crossed paths with Maradona during his spell at Newell's Old Boys and believes the midfielder is the best player he has ever seen.