Ndombele, Soldado and Tottenham's 10 worst signings of all time
Cameron Smith
- 25 Feb 2022 12:34 GMT
- 6 min read
Despite plenty of promise in recent years, Tottenham Hotspur have never managed to get across the line and win a major trophy.
The Premier League crown was there for the taking in the 2015/16 season, yet the side were unable to capitalise on a poor year for all the other big teams.
In an attempt to get to the top of English football, Daniel Levy was been sensible on the whole in regards to transfer fees, which has angered many Spurs fans who feel aggrieved by their lack of progress.
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However, while shrewd deals like ones for Christian Eriksen and Huge Lloris have taken place, there have also been several transfers that haven't hit the mark.
Here are 10 of the worst signings in Tottenham's history.
Gilberto - £3m (from Hertha Berlin, 2008)
A January transfer window signings from Hertha Berlin in 2008, Gilberto became the first Brazilian to play for Tottenham at senior level after making his debut in a UEFA Cup fixture against PSV.
He was substituted at half-time in that game after gifting PSV the only goal, though manager Juande Ramos insisted it was due to a lingering injury that he was brought off.
Gilberto did indeed have a good reputation when he signed for Tottenham, having represented Brazil at the 2006 World Cup.
He was unable to get to grips with life in North London and would ultimately only play seven league matches in 18 months. In the 2008/09 season he started just two games and was brought off at half-time in both.
Bongani Khumalo - £1.5m (from SuperSport United, 2010)
Tottenham realised the hard way that a player should not be purchased purely on the basis of a good performance or even a good moment in an international tournament when they signed Bongani Khumalo.
In October of 2010, Spurs announced his signing for the following January as part of their partnership with South African side SuperSport United.
The previous summer, Khumalo enjoyed one of the moments of the 2010 World Cup when he scored against France in a famous 2-1 win for the host nation.
He was never going to be good enough for the Premier League and didn't excel on loans at Preston, Reading, PAOK, Doncaster or Colchester.
In 2015, he left Spurs without ever having played a competitive game.
Roberto Soldado - £27m (from Valencia, 2013)
Just over £26m was spent on Spanish striker Roberto Soldado, who was earmarked as the club’s new starting number nine.
He scored the winning goal on his debut from the penalty spot against Crystal Palace, but this would not be a sign of positive things to come.
In his debut campaign with Spurs he only scored six times in the Premier League, with four of those goals coming from the penalty spot. He would ultimately leave the club for Villarreal after a record of just 16 goals in 76 appearances.
Clinton N'Jie - £12m (from Lyon, 2015)
After starring alongside Nabil Fekir and Alexandre Lacazette at Lyon, Clinto N'Jie was signed by Tottenham to provide depth in forward areas.
This move may have been hampered by injuries, but N'Jie played just 14 times for Tottenham in all competitions during his spell at the club.
He failed to score a single goal for the club, and grabbed just the one assist in the league. He joined Marseille just one year later.
Another transfer that just didn't hit the heights expected.
Vincent Janssen - £20m (from AZ Alkmaar, 2016)
Finally Tottenham had signed their Harry Kane back-up. Well, that's what they everyone thought.
Vincent Janssen had scored 27 Eredivisie goals in his sole season at AZ and was seen as the ideal player to provide competition for Kane. However, in 27 Premier League appearances in his debut season he scored just twice, and was loaned out to the Turkish Super Lig the following year.
His lack of form forced Spurs to dip further into their resources to sign Fernando Llorente from Swansea to act as Kane's back-up.
Janssen was sold for £8m in 2019.
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou - £11m (from Marseille, 2016)
It seems incredible to think now, but due to his performances for Marseille in the 2015/16 season, Georges-Kevin N'Koudou was actually shortlisted for the UEFA Best Player in Europe award.
Spurs signed him for an initial fee of £11m in the summer of 2016, but the superb previous campaign in France proved to be a flash in the pan as he has not hit anywhere near those heights again.
He made 17 appearances in his first campaign and started only two of those.
A loan move to Burnley was meant to gain him confidence playing in England, but he struggled to even get in the team at Turf Moor. He was eventually sold to Besiktas in 2019.
Tanguy Ndombele - £54m (from Lyon, 2019)
It was actually seen as a bit of a coup when Spurs snatched Tanguy Ndombele away from Lyon for a cool £54m in the summer of 2019.
The Frenchman had been superb for the French side in the previous season and proved himself to be a truly unique prospect - a player with marvellous close control who looked like he belonged on a Futsal pitch instead of football.
Unfortunately for him, he fell out with manager Jose Mourinho and didn't play for a period, while he has also faced accusations over his weight.
He was unable to find decent form with Nuno Espirito Santo or Conte, either, and was sent on loan to Lyon in January 2022.
A disaster of a deal, really.
Giovani Lo Celso - £29m (from Betis, 2020)
Giovani Lo Celso was excellent for Real Betis in La Liga which is why the Spanish side bought him outright from PSG.
However, this would only enable Tottenham to buy him for an even bigger fee in the same summer.
The Argentine is a very tidy player with an eye for a pass, but his performances have hardly lit up North London and it seems like his average outings since arriving is a microcosm of Spurs as a whole.
In January 2022, he went to Villarreal on loan.
Matt Doherty - £15m (from Wolves, 2020)
Another Jose Mourinho signing, and another that was never going to suit Mourinho's style. Matt Doherty thrived at Wolves when playing as the right-wing-back in Nuno Espirito Santo's 3-4-3.
His overlapping runs meant he was often the furthest Wolves players forward, hence why he scored so many goals. However, upon joining Tottenham he was asked to play right-back in a back four, which simply didn't suit his strengths.
With competition with Serge Aurier, he started just 13 league games last season, and this year it's been even worse. Despite being reunited with Espirito Santo at the beginning of the campaign, he still played second fiddle, and he's clearly not fancied by Antonio Conte, even though the Italian plays with a wing-back system.
A transfer to forget.
Emerson Royal - £26m (from Barcelona, 2021)
Emerson Royal, like Lo Celso, had been excellent on loan at Betis, but hasn't been able to transfer that form to the Premier League.
He's looked off-the-pace in the division, and has been a major reason for Spurs' leaky backline this season.
A liability in seemingly all phases of play, Spurs have already begun searching for a replacement, hence their lengthy January pursuit of Adama Traore to fill the right-wing-back berth.
Spurs just can't seem to get the right-back sorted since the departures of Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier.
