SUIYHA
Scott Parker
With the January transfer window about to open, who would you rate as our best signing of the last decade? I've tried to narrow the poll down to the ones I feel were best. Special mentions to the guys who brought in Dawson and Assou-Ekotto who have made 449 appearances for us between them at a combined cost of just £7m. I haven't included the "wheeler dealing" type signings like Gudjohnsen or Cudicini even though they were great bits of business for the stop gaps they added to the team for a short period, or this summer's signings, even though I am convinced that Lloris, Dembele and Vertongen will prove to be fantastic bits of business.
Jermain Defoe - Total cost £13m + Zamora - The figure comes from the combined amount we spent on him in the two transfers minus what Pompey paid us. He joined us at a time when there weren't too many exciting players at Tottenham, let alone players who could score 20+ goals in a season. Defoe has scored 132 goals for the club, lots of them wonder goals and goals that have won us an uncountable number of matches over the years.
Michael Carrick - Signed for £2.5m, sold for £18.6m - He spent a year playing lower league football with West Ham and nobody wanted him. When Arnesen signed him, Santini didn't want him either. When Jol took over, he instantly recognised what he had and built his team around him. Suddenly, we became a team that was very good at maintaining possession, was very difficult to break down, and for the first time in a generation was capable of competing for a Champions League spot. Only two years after signing him, we made a £16m profit on his sale but struggled badly without him.
Aaron Lennon - Signed for £1m - Lennon has epitomised the fast paced attacking football we've played over the last 7 or 8 years. For 1/50th the cost of Fernando Torres, we have a player that has made almost 300 appearances for the club and is still only 25.
Dimitar Berbatov - Signed for £10.9m, sold for £30.75m - I don't think anyone would argue that we've had a better striker than Berbatov in the last 15 years, if not longer. For two years, he was our talisman, the leader of our attack and massively raised the profile of our club IMO. Not only was he our top scorer in both of his seasons here, but he created so many chances for his team mates that we became one of the most prolific goalscoring teams in the league. After only two years, we made a £20m profit on his sale.
Gareth Bale - Signed for £10m - Took a while to get going here, curse of Bale and all that, but I don't need to remind you of what he's done for us over the last 3 years. It is widely accepted that we have one of the best wingers in the world on our hands.
Luka Modric - Signed for £16m, sold for £30m - Getting him in was a real coup as lots of bigger clubs were interested in Modric. Since the departure of Carrick we were no longer a team that kept possession well, Modric brought this back. His first touch and passing ability were both at least as good as Carrick's, but he also added the dribbling skills and an ability to transition play from defence to attack that we haven't seen at Spurs since the days of Gascoigne or Ardiles. We had four seasons from him and made a £14m profit from his transfer.
Rafael Van Der Vaart - Signed for £8m, sold for £10m - No major profit on his transfer, but this was a classic deadline day bargain at only £8m. More end product than Modric, he had a knack of scoring important goals as well as creating them and was our top scorer in his first season. He was a huge fans favourite and had a knack of performing against Arsenal, with a goal and two assists in his first derby, two goals in his second and then another goal in his third.
Sandro - Signed for £8m - Used mostly as an impact player in his first two seasons, but has grown into arguably the best defensive midfielder in the Premiership. He's been our player of the season thus far in my eyes and is getting better and better.
Emmanuel Adebayor - Loan then £5m - Form has been below par this season, but for a loan signing last season he was phenomenal. Nobody since Sheringham has scored 17 league goals in their first season with us, his pace, strength and unpredictable movement made us very difficult to defend against. 12 assists meant he'd had a hand in 29 league goals last season, more than any Spurs player has achieved since they started counting assist stats.
Jermain Defoe - Total cost £13m + Zamora - The figure comes from the combined amount we spent on him in the two transfers minus what Pompey paid us. He joined us at a time when there weren't too many exciting players at Tottenham, let alone players who could score 20+ goals in a season. Defoe has scored 132 goals for the club, lots of them wonder goals and goals that have won us an uncountable number of matches over the years.
Michael Carrick - Signed for £2.5m, sold for £18.6m - He spent a year playing lower league football with West Ham and nobody wanted him. When Arnesen signed him, Santini didn't want him either. When Jol took over, he instantly recognised what he had and built his team around him. Suddenly, we became a team that was very good at maintaining possession, was very difficult to break down, and for the first time in a generation was capable of competing for a Champions League spot. Only two years after signing him, we made a £16m profit on his sale but struggled badly without him.
Aaron Lennon - Signed for £1m - Lennon has epitomised the fast paced attacking football we've played over the last 7 or 8 years. For 1/50th the cost of Fernando Torres, we have a player that has made almost 300 appearances for the club and is still only 25.
Dimitar Berbatov - Signed for £10.9m, sold for £30.75m - I don't think anyone would argue that we've had a better striker than Berbatov in the last 15 years, if not longer. For two years, he was our talisman, the leader of our attack and massively raised the profile of our club IMO. Not only was he our top scorer in both of his seasons here, but he created so many chances for his team mates that we became one of the most prolific goalscoring teams in the league. After only two years, we made a £20m profit on his sale.
Gareth Bale - Signed for £10m - Took a while to get going here, curse of Bale and all that, but I don't need to remind you of what he's done for us over the last 3 years. It is widely accepted that we have one of the best wingers in the world on our hands.
Luka Modric - Signed for £16m, sold for £30m - Getting him in was a real coup as lots of bigger clubs were interested in Modric. Since the departure of Carrick we were no longer a team that kept possession well, Modric brought this back. His first touch and passing ability were both at least as good as Carrick's, but he also added the dribbling skills and an ability to transition play from defence to attack that we haven't seen at Spurs since the days of Gascoigne or Ardiles. We had four seasons from him and made a £14m profit from his transfer.
Rafael Van Der Vaart - Signed for £8m, sold for £10m - No major profit on his transfer, but this was a classic deadline day bargain at only £8m. More end product than Modric, he had a knack of scoring important goals as well as creating them and was our top scorer in his first season. He was a huge fans favourite and had a knack of performing against Arsenal, with a goal and two assists in his first derby, two goals in his second and then another goal in his third.
Sandro - Signed for £8m - Used mostly as an impact player in his first two seasons, but has grown into arguably the best defensive midfielder in the Premiership. He's been our player of the season thus far in my eyes and is getting better and better.
Emmanuel Adebayor - Loan then £5m - Form has been below par this season, but for a loan signing last season he was phenomenal. Nobody since Sheringham has scored 17 league goals in their first season with us, his pace, strength and unpredictable movement made us very difficult to defend against. 12 assists meant he'd had a hand in 29 league goals last season, more than any Spurs player has achieved since they started counting assist stats.
