However, today the club's official website put an end to the speculation by "unreservedly" rejecting a £4 million bid for the central defender.
Spurs apparently made a bid of around £10 million before George Graham's departure last year. Richards has since signed a new contract and yet Spurs feel he is worth only half as much. This raise the question of what they were hoping to achieve by this bid. There is no way Saints would part with him for such an amount and it's not even high enough to begin negotiations around.
The statement said "Dean Richards has four years remaining on his contract with Southampton and both he and his agent have been informed of the current situation."
This is not the first time Rupert Lowe has been disappointed by the way in which clubs, personnel and agents act. This too was reflected in the statement which said: "We believe that the way in which Tottenham Hotspur have behaved goes against the spirit of the wording of the protocol which clubs signed up to at the Premier League summer meeting in June."
Although we have kept hold of one of our key players we now have the fans unconvinced by Richard's commitment which is sure to be unsettling. The player himself has been a little to honest concerning his ambitions and it can only cause more consternation. A moral victory at best. Hoddle must be smiling to himself and there's always that Petrescu link to resurrect.
On a positive note, Saints policy of retaining their key players on long contracts has proved to be a very wise decision. If Richards is to leave he will command a very large fee.