Tottenham Transfer Mistakes: Selling These Two Players Was A Blunder In Recent Times

Tottenham Hotspur have grown leaps and bounds over the past two years. Under the leadership of Mauricio Pochettino, the North Londoners have made huge strides on and off the pitch and have gone on to become one of the best teams in England.

Spurs have a young and vibrant squad which plays some very attractive football on the pitch. After finishing 3rd in the Premier League last season, they are set to better that this time around as they find themselves at 2nd spot in the table.

Over the past few years, Tottenham have managed to bring in some quality players, with the likes of Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Hugo Lloris all coming in and making a huge impact. But there have been some players who Tottenham would have liked to keep hold of, rather than selling them to other clubs. Here are two such players from the recent past, who Spurs should not have sold.

Luka Modric

Arguably one of the best midfielders in the game currently, Modric was one of the finest players to grace the White Hart Lane in recent times.

The 31-year old moved to Tottenham in the summer of 2008 from Dinamo Zagreb for a fee of £16.5 million and enjoyed some of his finest years with the club, before moving onto join Real Madrid ahead of the 2012-13 season for close to £30 million. During his four-year stay in the North London side, Modric made 159 appearances, scoring 17 goals.

“I spent four great years there with a lot of emotions, with a lot of love from the club and the fans. I enjoyed every moment with Tottenham. But in one moment you feel you need to take a step forward, to go to a higher level,” Modric said after his transfer to Real Madrid.

Looking back to the time Modric left, Tottenham weren’t nearly at the level they are now. There was instability at the club regarding the managerial role with then-manager Harry Redknapp being sacked. Considering the amount of success he has had after joining the Spanish capital side, he would not be regretting the move for sure. But on the other hand, Tottenham will be ruing letting go of one of the finest central midfielders in Europe in recent times.

Gareth Bale

The profit that Tottenham made from the sale of Bale would have somewhat softened the blow, but losing him will remain one of the hardest pieces of business that the club has done in recent times.

The Welshman moved to Tottenham from Southampton back in 2007 for a fee of £5 million with a growing reputation as an explosive left-back with great set-piece abilities. And true to that reputation, Bale displayed his world-class abilities for five years at White Hart Lane and went on to be regarded as one of the best young talents in the game.

During his five-year tenure with the Lilywhites, Bale played a total of 203 games for the club, scoring 55 goals in that time. Having started as a left-back, Bale developed into one of the most devastating wingers to have played in England in recent times. He moved to Real Madrid for a world-record fee of €100 million in the summer of 2013.

In his final campaign with Spurs, Bale enjoyed his best season in Tottenham colours and went on to win the PFA Players Player of The Year Award and the PFA Young Player of the Year Award. He has continued to flourish at Madrid and has achieved great success. However,  Tottenham will be left wondering what could’ve been the case had Bale stayed with them.