Monaco midfielder Joao Moutinho has revealed that he was minutes away from joining Tottenham Hotspur four years ago.

The 30-year-old Portuguese star was close to signing with Spurs in a £24million deal back in 2012 but ended up remaining with Porto before joining Monaco a year later.

The Ligue 1 side will face the North London club in the Champions League group game at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday night.

"It's true, I was a few minutes from signing for Spurs," he said.

"Here I am at Monaco and the focus is on putting in a performance to help us through to the next stage of the Champions League.

"Spurs might be slight favourites but this is a very equal group (with CSKA Moscow and Bayer Leverkusen).

"Every team will fancy their chances to qualify and everyone wants to get through."