da mrbet： Before the England captain joined Bayern Munich, Spurs lost another talisman back in 2013 – but how well did they invest the money raised by his sale?
da betcris： Harry Kane is no longer a Tottenham player. Very few supporters would have envisaged that being the case at the start of the summer transfer window, despite the number of clubs that were reportedly lining up to sign him.
The England forward had shown unwavering loyalty to Spurs for close to a decade, having initially broke into their senior squad in 2014. He had plenty of chances to leave, most notably when Manchester City came calling in 2021, but he stayed put and continued to give his all.
However, in the aftermath of a catastrophic 2022-23 campaign that saw Tottenham slip to eighth in the Premier League and extend their trophy drought to 15 years, Kane found himself at a career crossroads. A player of his calibre deserves to be at a club capable of fighting for major honours across all fronts, and Spurs have never provided that platform.
Bayern Munich eventually convinced Kane to complete a £100 million ($127m) transfer to the Allianz Arena, with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy reluctantly allowing his prized asset to depart after months of intense negotiations. Kane will be almost 34 by the time his contract with the German champions expires, and should finish his time at the club with a full silverware cabinet – which could very well include the Champions League.
Kane has made the right decision for his legacy in the game, but how will Spurs cope without their all-time record goalscorer? Much will depend on how well they spend the money generated by his transfer to Bayern.
Tottenham have only ever been involved in one other deal carrying such a lofty transfer fee – when Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid for a then-world record £85m ($108m) in the summer of 2013. On that occasion, rather than trying to replace him with just one player, the north London outfit made seven new signings.
Fast-forward 10 years and not one of them remains on Spurs' books – and GOAL looks at how they fared below…
GettyVlad Chiriches
Spurs paid £7 million to sign Vlad Chiriches from Steaua Bucharest, which looked like a shrewd piece of business at the time given the Romanian's versatility. Chiriches could operate as a centre-back, full-back or in defensive midfield, but was never able to force his way into Tottenham's starting XI on a regular basis.
He made 43 appearances across all competitions over two seasons before being sold to Napoli for £5m, but also struggled for minutes in Italy. Napoli loaned Chiriches to Sassuolo in 2019 and he joined the club permanently the following year.
The defender played in 62 Serie A games for Sassuolo, and also featured in the Italian top-fight for Cremonese last term, but was powerless to prevent them from suffering relegation.
AdvertisementGettyPaulinho
Paulinho was compared to Chelsea legend Frank Lampard upon his arrival at Spurs, having proven himself as a goalscoring midfielder with bags of potential at Corinthians. Unfortunately, the Brazilian was unable to live up to those expectations in north London, as he managed to score just 10 goals in 67 matches.
Spurs offloaded Paulinho to Chinese outfit Guangzhou Evergrande after two mediocre seasons, and it appeared he would never return to Europe. However, Barcelona made a surprise swoop for him in 2017, and he helped them win a La Liga and Copa del Rey double in his solitary year at Camp Nou before returning to Guangzhou.
The former Brazil international went on to join Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ahli in 2021, but re-joined Corinthians last year and is still going strong at the age of 35 in his homeland.
GettyNacer Chadli
Unlike the first two players on this list, Nacer Chadli can actually look back on his time at Spurs in a relatively positive light. Signed for just £7m from Dutch outfit FC Twente, the winger would go on to score a respectable 25 goals across his first three seasons at Tottenham, albeit without offering anywhere near the same kind of threat as Bale did.
Tottenham sold Chadli to West Brom in 2016, making a £5m profit in the process, and he played another two seasons in the Premier League at The Hawthorns before joining Monaco. He failed to make an impact at Stade Louis II, and after a loan spell at Anderlecht he completed a switch to Istanbul Basaksehir.
Chadli returned to the Belgian top-flight on loan at Westerlo in 2022-23, but is now back in Turkey to see out the final year of his Basaksehir contract.
GettyRoberto Soldado
Spurs broke their transfer record for the second time in the 2013 summer transfer window by spending £26m ($33m) on Valencia striker Roberto Soldado, who scored 30 goals in his final season at Mestalla.
He couldn't replicate that form in the Premier League, though, finding the net just seven times in 52 outings, eventually falling behind Kane in the squad pecking order. Tottenham jumped at the chance to get Soldado off their books when Villarreal came in with a £10m bid in 2015, and he went on to take in spells at Fenerbahce, Granada and Levante.
Reflecting on his failure at Spurs during an interview a year after his exit, the Spaniard said: "I think in the end what let me down at Tottenham was my head; for whatever reason, it wasn’t right. I found I was getting easy chances on the pitch and I’d miss them; the tiniest things would go against me."