Tottenham’s transfer spree of 2013 was a box office affair. Seven players brought in and one, very expensive name sold. Elvis Presley left White Hart Lane and the Beatles were supposed to come and perform in his place. Unfortunately for Spurs fans, the 1975 showed up, but the silverware did not.
Now that the dust has settled on the latest campaign and the post-mortem has taken place, it is likely that four of Spurs’ ‘magnificent seven’ will be departing. Joining them is another list of players who have been underperforming or who do not fit the profile of player that Mauricio Pochettino wants.
The manager will be performing a head surgery on this Spurs squad that Ben Carson could only dream of. It began this week with the sale of Paulinho to Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande and Lewis Holtby to Hamburg. These were just the start though, the following players are expected to join the outgoing list.
Etienne Capoue
Etienne Capoue has, on more than one occasion, looked like he would have been a crucial part of the furniture at White Hart Lane. When he joined in the summer of 2013, he made an outstanding start and had strong showings in midfield, especially on his debut against Swansea at White Hart Lane. Injuries kept him out for months during the end of the Andre Villas-Boas reign and when he did return, was forced to play centre-back due to an team-wide injury crisis. A bid from Napoli was on the table in January 2014 and it looked like he would leave following Tim Sherwood’s remarkable admission that he was not a believer in defensive-midfielders.
He survived that window and when Mauricio Pochettino arrived, it was believed that Capoue would be the mainstay of Spurs’ midfield following the failure to sign Morgan Schneiderlin. Yet again, Capoue started the 2014-15 season well, but poor form and a reported bad attitude led to him being sidelined with Emmanuel Adebayor and Younes Kaboul. He last featured for Spurs in the FA Cup tie against Leicester on January 24th. He is reported to have interest from Watford and will surely be leaving Tottenham Hotspur this summer.
Vlad Chiriches
Chiriches was not the most expensive, nor well-known signing of the 2013 spending spree. A Romanian centre-back imported from a Romanian club for £7 million, he was apparently one of Franco Baldini’s signings. His career at Spurs started brightly with some good performances, but then his form dropped harshly. He started over-playing and he struggled against physical attackers, a weak link that teams tried to exploit. He was used sparingly this season, mostly as a right-back. He is still young and Spurs can expect to recoup some of his transfer fee.
Roberto Soldado
If there ever was a Hall of Fame for disappointing signings at White Hart Lane, Roberto Soldado would be the first inductee. Soldado’s time at Spurs can be summed up by the open goal misses, the seeming fear of chances and the disappearing in games. But what makes this signing such a disappointment is the genuine buzz it created at Spurs. For years, Lilywhites fans had been crying out for a striker and every year Daniel Levy has let them down, either not signing one or by bringing-in stop-gaps such as Louis Saha. Soldado though, was supposed to be different.
Considered one of the best players in La Liga after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Soldado was in his prime and coming off of a 30-goal season. Tottenham smashed their transfer record to sign him for £26 million and he was the first marquee arrival at White Hart Lane since Rafael van der Vaart joined from Real Madrid. However, he had far from the same effect as the Dutchman. Two penalties in his first two games were followed by a two-month drought before he scored again against Aston Villa in the 2013-14 season. 11 goals in all competitions (six in the league) was a poor return for a £26m signing. This season was no better, as the Spaniard recorded just five goals in all competitions and, only one in the league, likely sealing his ticket out of the N17.
https://youtu.be/S0chzzyWxCs
Younes Kaboul
When Michael Dawson was sold towards the end of August 2014, Pochettino took his time to choose his replacement as captain. Three weeks after the sale of Dawson, during the international break in September, Pochettino named Kaboul as his captain. Many were surprised at this decision. Eric Dier and Federico Fazio were expected to be preferred to Kaboul to partner Jan Vertonghen, and naming someone who would hardly play as captain would be counter-productive. Kaboul was first choice at the time, and his performances were acceptable, if not great.
His best moment came in the first North London Derby of the season in September where he combatted everything Arsenal threw at him. He won the man of the match award in that 1-1 draw and after two injury-ravaged years, Spurs fans were hoping that their captain would be back to his best. Poor performances in October and November as well as a reported bust-up with young players saw Kaboul dropped indefinitely and the captaincy shared between Hugo Lloris, Harry Kane and Jan Vertonghen. There is seemingly no way back now for the Frenchman as he enters the last year of his contract.
Emmanuel Adebayor
Tottenham Hotspurs’ very own Enigma of White Hart Lane. There has never been a player more complex and misunderstood on the books of Spurs than Adebayor. The Togo international joined Spurs from Man City in 2012 after a successful loan spell in Spurs’ 2011-12 season where they finished fourth. He would then fall out with Andre Villas-Boas and was forced to train with the reserves. Tim Sherwood gave him a second chance to prove his worth when he was appointed in early 2015.
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If we have learned anything about Adebayor during his lengthy spell in Europe, it is that he performs best when he has a point to prove. Fourteen goals in the 2013-14 season, despite missing half of the games, was a very respectable total. Pochettino was left with the task of coaxing the best out of Adebayor and he went about it by handing him responsibility in the form of the vice captaincy at Spurs, as well as making him his number one striker at the start of the campaign, but two goals against QPR and Newcastle were as good as it gotlast season. He is expected to leave White Hart Lane this summer, as he is not in the plans of Mauricio Pochettino, but the 31-year-old is as hard to shift as he is to keep motivated.
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Their should have been an option for all three.
Better let them leave., as sufficient time has been given to them. Spurs has always been n will continue to be an attractive, entertaining, attacking b creative club.
N we need players who r of these qualities, 11 Dave McKay types ” no quarters given n respect ” diesn’t matter young or older. Kane now says it for Spurs ” just wanna be with d lads n be on d field n play with a smile…as a connected team “.
Thanks but gotta go some lads.