Spurs, who placed second in the Champions League the previous season, wanted to rebuild their team for Mauricio Pochettino’s return. That summer, Ndombele was the big acquisition for Spurs, breaking their record in a £55.5 million deal.
But when Pochettino left in the fall, Ndombele failed to make an impression on Jose Mourinho, who took over. Due to his poor performances, he was sent on loan to another team since successive Spurs managers weren’t impressed with the Frenchman.
Throughout the years, Tottenham Hotspur has added several incredible players to its roster, including Son Heung-min, Jimmy Greaves, Danny Blanchflower, and Gareth Bale.
However, as these failures show, not every Spurs acquisition works out as expected…
Jason Dozzell
although the midfielder found it difficult to step up, and over the next four years, he made over 100 appearances across all competitions, although Dozzell seldom impressed. Many who follow Spurs would contend that he reached his peak when he signed with Northampton in 1997.
Kazuyuki Toda
It didn’t take long to realize Toda was in over his head. Only four Premier League games were played by him before Spurs sent him back to Japan.
John Scales
Scales struggled to establish a spot on the team and dealt with a lot of injury issues. When the three-time England international moved to Ipswich in 2000, not many people wept.
Benjamin Stambouli
For a while, it seemed like a good deal, but Montpellier ultimately proved to have won the negotiation. Stambouli was only at White Hart Lane for one season when Tottenham sold him to PSG.
Kevin-Prince Boateng
He was only in the Premier League for half of that period, appearing in just 14 games, only half of which were starts.
Mido
However, after Spurs made the agreement permanent, everything went wrong. The Egyptian striker scored just one premier league goal in 2006–07, and because of his outspokenness off the field, Martin Jol criticized the player as “irresponsible and disrespectful.”
Matt Doherty
But Doherty found it difficult to step up, and he was soon reduced to a supporting role in north London. His contract was terminated by Tottenham in January 2023.
Jason Cundy
During his brief 28-game stint in the top division from 1992 and 1996, that was the sole memorable moment of his time at Spurs. The defender’s Chelsea links may have contributed to his inability to win over Tottenham supporters.
Hossam Ghaly
Ultimately, Ghaly proved to be more of a hassle than a benefit, as seen by the midfielder’s shirt-throwing incident following his substitution against Blackburn. Later, he stated, “I’m just so angry with myself.” Spurs were also.
Paul Stalteri
Although Stalteri was Spurs’ first-choice right-back in 2005–06, he didn’t perform well enough to win the team over to his long-term value. Stalteri was moved to the bench when Pascal Chimbonda was brought in as an improvement.
Ramon Vega
Vega was released by Tottenham the next year after being on loan at Celtic in 2000. He continued on to play in the second division for Watford.
Clinton Njie
When Tottenham purchased Njie in 2015, they believed they had found a star, as Lyon’s academy has produced many in the twenty-first century. However, he had trouble breaking into the squad before sustaining a significant knee injury in December.
The very following season, Njie returned to France, initially joining Marseille on loan before agreeing to a long-term contract at the Stade Velodrome. He made eight appearances in the Premier League as a substitute.
Ricardo Rocha
The Portuguese defender struggled to adjust to the rugged style of English football and only made 12 Premier League appearances for the north Londoners.
Bobby Mimms
After that, Mimms was unable to reclaim his position. In 1990, he was sold to Blackburn on a permanent basis after being loaned to Aberdeen.
Vlad Chiriches
The center defense had shown to be quite dependable at Steaua Bucharest, despite the fact that Romania’s Liga 1 is not quite as rigorous as the Premier League. Chiriches made 43 appearances for Tottenham, although aside from his debut, not many stood out. On his debut, he was named man of the match.
Bobby Zamora
Zamora did in fact only manage one goal in his eighteen Spurs games. Used as a makeweight in a deal that saw Jermain Defoe move from West Ham to Tottenham, he was gone in a matter of months.
Jonathan Blondel
David Jenkins
Although Jenkins scored just twice in all competitions, Spurs were unable to let the former Arsenal player leave until 1972, when he joined Brentford.
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou
Nor did he. During his three years on the Spurs roster, which included loan stints at Burnley and Monaco, Nkoudou flattered to mislead. In 2019, he was only sold to Besiktas for £4.6 million.
Federico Fazio
On his seventh Spurs game, he was sent off once more; he only played 25 more games before leaving for Sevilla. Later, in a weak attempt at self-absolution, he observed, “England is different, there is not much tactical work.”
Gilberto
On January 8, 2008, the day of the transfer deadline, Daniel Levy approved Gilberto’s contract. The Brazilian was supposed to start for Tottenham as their starting left-back, but he was injured when he arrived and had to wait weeks to play.
When he did, Gilberto gave a subpar effort and was substituted out at halftime. Before being urged to look for greener pastures, he had only played seven Premier League games.
Vincent Janssen
Even though Janssen was the first striker from the Eredivisie to fail, Tottenham supporters were nevertheless happy to acquire a player who had scored 31 goals for AZ in the 2015–16 season. “He fulfills every requirement we have,” Mauricio Pochettino gushed.
Unfortunately, it proved to be a £17 million waste. In 31 Premier League games, Janssen managed just two goals, and in 2019 he was not even given an opportunity due to the absence of Son Heung-min and Harry Kane.
David Bentley
Before turning thirty, Bentley, a trailblazer on and off the field, declared his retirement from football.
Sergiy Rebrov
Throughout the 1990s, Rebrov was a prolific striker for Dynamo Kyiv, leading the Ukrainian team to the final stages of the Champions League with his goals. At the turn of the century, that made it possible for him to transfer for £11 million to Tottenham.
Their money should have been saved. Just 15 times in 75 appearances for Spurs, and only once in 30 Premier League games in 2001–02, did Rebrov make the net bulge.
Ilie Dumitrescu
Dumitrescu, who excelled as Romania won the World Cup in 1994, signed a contract with Tottenham later that summer for a hefty £2.6 million. The attacker, who had been signed by Ossie Ardiles, did not gain the confidence of Gerry Francis, who took over in November of the same year.
From then on, Dumitrescu was never able to save his Spurs career, and in 1996 he was traded to West Ham.
Paulinho
Following their 2013 acquisition of £86 million from the sale of Gareth Bale, Tottenham quickly turned profit into loss. Among the seven new players the team brought in that summer, Paulinho was probably the most disappointing.
The Brazilian appeared to be a box-to-box midfielder made for the Premier League. However, Paulinho lost favor in just 18 months and was sent to Guangzhou Evergrande at the beginning of 2015. Later on, to the dismay of every Spurs fan, he was a player for Barcelona.
Paolo Tramezzani
Spurs had one of their worst seasons in the Premier League’s history in 1997–98, therefore the following summer they worked to strengthen their team. Tramezzani, a £1.5 million buy from Piacenza, was one of the arrivals.
£1.50 would have been a more equitable charge. Spurs limited the Italian defender to just six league games before sending him back to Piacenza in 2000 to offset their losses.
Grzegorz Rasiak
Rasiak ended up costing Tottenham £3 million, although his 18 goals for second-tier Derby in 2004–05 persuaded them to make a bid for him. Martin Jol’s description of the new striker as a “honest player,” which damned him with faint praise from the off, should have raised red flags.
Before Spurs arranged for Rasiak to leave the Premier League, initially on loan, he only managed eight goalless games.
Bongani Khumalo
Khumalo’s introduction by Harry Redknapp didn’t exactly send hearts racing at White Hart Lane, but he was taken on because “he’s not expensive and we’ve got a tie-up with the club, SuperSport United.”
In addition to. Khumalo was loaned to Preston by Redknapp after he quickly realized he wasn’t cut out for the position. He never played a senior game with the Spurs.
Helder Postiga
However, Postiga’s goals for Spurs were rarer than blue moons; in 19 Premier League games, he scored just one, and a year later, he returned to Porto.
Roberto Soldado
After selling Gareth Bale for £86m in 2013, Tottenham used the proceeds to sign seven new first-team players. The arrival of Soldado, who had just scored 24 goals in the 2012/13 La Liga campaign, generated the most excitement.
The Spaniard scored the winner on his debut, but that was as good as it ever got. A dry patch saw Soldado lose all confidence, and his Spurs career ended with a record of just 16 goals in 76 matches.
Tanguy Ndombele
Spurs, who placed second in the Champions League the previous season, wanted to rebuild their team for Mauricio Pochettino’s return. That summer, Ndombele was the big acquisition for Spurs, breaking their record in a £55.5 million deal.
But when Pochettino left in the fall, Ndombele failed to make an impression on Jose Mourinho, who took over. Due to his poor performances, he was sent on loan to another team since successive Spurs managers weren’t impressed with the Frenchman.
