Tottenham’s Most Expensive Transfer XI
Over the years, Tottenham Hotspur have never been a club to break records in the transfer market and sign the biggest of the stars in the game. However, there have been occasions when they have had to loosen their purse strings in order to get their hands on the players they needed.
Here we take a look at the most expensive Tottenham Hotspur line-up, comprising of players who commanded the highest fees in their respective positions.
Hugo Lloris (GK) – £10.71million
Arrived from Lyon in 2012, the Frenchman has grown into one of the best goalkeepers in the game. The current captain of the club, Lloris has made over 200 appearances and has been a huge hit at Tottenham.
Alan Hutton (RB) – £11 million
The right-back arrived from Scottish club Rangers in January 2008, but turned out to be a failure at North London. 66 appearances in three seasons and a loan spell at Sunderland later, Hutton was sold to Aston Villa.
Toby Alderweireld (CB) – £13.6million
The Belgian international arrived amid much difficulty from Atletico Madrid in 2015, with fellow Premier League side Southampton threatening a legal action over the transfer. Since his arrival, Alderweireld has become one of the best centre-halves in the Premier League and has been vital to the recent success that Tottenham have been tasting.
Vedran Corluka (CB) – £11.7million
Signed back in 2008, the then 22-year old Vedran Corluka arrived with great promise at the White Hart Lane. However, inability to fit into the plans of Harry Redknapp and mistakes on the pitch meant he made 109 appearances in little over three years, before departing to Bayer Leverkusen on loan and permanently to Lokomotiv Moscow a year later.
Ben Davies (LB) – £10.75million
The promising Welsh youngster joined Mauricio Pochettino’s young brigade from Swansea City in the summer of 2014. Having been a peripheral member for quite a while, Davies is starting to grow into importance with Tottenham and has been an ideal backup for Danny Rose.
Moussa Sissoko (CM) – £30million
The Frenchman has to be one of the biggest transfer flops in the history of Tottenham. Signed for a club record fee on the deadline day of last summer from Newcastle United, Sissoko struggled to break into Pochettino’s plans and when given a chance, did not make any sort of impact. Surely set to leave in this window.
Luka Modric (CM) – £17.9million
Alongside the flop, it will be one of the best ever transfers that Tottenham have ever made – Luka Modric. The Croatian international arrived from Dinamo Zagreb in the summer of 2008 and went onto establish himself as the linchpin of Spurs’ midfield under Harry Redknapp and rose to great heights. After making over 150 club appearances, Modric was sold to Real Madrid for a huge profit.
Paulinho (CM) – £16.8million
And completing the midfield trio is another big dud in recent years at the Lane, Paulinho. The Brazilian was brought in by Andre Villas-Boas, following the world-record sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid. While a fee less than £20million seems reasonable in the current market, the midfielder’s performances for the Lilywhites made it feel that they had been sold a dud. Left for Guangzhou Evergrande after a year and a half of torrid spell.
Erik Lamela (RW) – £25.5million
Another investment from the Gareth Bale windfall, the Argentine was brought in to fill the void left by the Welsh star but has gone through a terrible first two years in England. Lamela enjoyed his best campaign in 2015-16 and was finally showing signs of flourish, but a serious hip injury kept him out for the almost entirety of last season. The jury is still very much out on him.
Roberto Soldado (ST) – £25.5million
The Spaniard arrived in 2013 on the back of a stellar goal-scoring record at Valencia, but he could not survive the big test that the English football posed to him. With the dip in performances, his confidence took a huge nosedive and he departed two years later, scoring 16 times from 76 games.
Son Heung-Min (LW) – £25.5million
One of the heroes of the 2016/17 season, the South Korean international arrived two summers back, but had to go through a tough settling period in his first year, finishing with 8 goals in 40 games. However, last time around, he found his feet in England and managed a brilliant 21 goals in all competitions. Is starting to pay off the transfer fee in large instalments.
(All transfer fees as reported by Transfermarkt.com)