Harry Redknapp has revealed that he was put off attempting to take Connor Wickham to White Hart Lane by Ipswich Town's asking price.
The teenager left Portman Road and joined Sunderland in the summer for a fee which could rise to £12m.
Spurs manager Redknapp admitted the London club were interested in the England Under-21 international but didn't want to pay the lofty fee.
"We kept looking at him," said Redknapp, whose side come up against Wickham and Sunderland on Sunday.
"We watched him dozens of times and we liked him but we felt it was a lot of money for him.
"We have young players here like Harry Kane. He is a bit younger, we like him and we didn't feel we wanted to pay that money for Wickham."
Since his move Wickham has scored once in ten appearances for the Black Cats.
