Spurs wasted £62m on Poch flop who earned more than Spence & Van de Ven

It might in all probability be truthful to say that the final interval of sustained positivity at Tottenham Hotspur got here beneath Mauricio Pochettino.

The Argentine spent simply over 5 years within the Lilywhites’ dugout, throughout which he turned them into among the best groups within the nation and led them to their first Champions League last.

Nevertheless, whereas the previous boss received loads proper throughout his time on the membership, he additionally made his fair proportion of errors, particularly within the switch market.

He might have been chargeable for some good signings like Son Heung-min, Toby Alderweireld and Dele Alli, however he was additionally chargeable for some howlers, together with one flop who price the membership a fortune and earned greater than Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence.

Pochettino’s worst signings

Earlier than attending to the participant in query, it is value a few of Pochettino’s different dismal signings from his time within the Spurs scorching seat, beginning with what needs to be thought-about his worst: Tanguy Ndombele.

The North Londoners opted to spend a then-club-record £63m on the Lyon midfielder in the summertime of 2019, and whereas it’s straightforward to lambast the deal now, there was loads of pleasure on the time, with the Guardian’s David Hytner even evaluating the Frenchman to Mousa Dembélé.

Sadly, that comparability by no means got here near being justified.

Over the following 5 years, the previous Lyon ace would make simply 91 first-team appearances, during which he scored ten targets and supplied 9 assists, earlier than ultimately seeing his contract terminated final summer time, after costing the North Londoners round £104m in wages and costs.

A far cheaper, however nonetheless disappointing, signing was that of Vincent Janssen, who joined the membership in the summertime of 2016 for round £19m from Dutch facet AZ Alkmaar.

Now, whereas the Dutchman nonetheless price the membership a major sum of money, he falls into the class of ‘most disappointing’ signings beneath Pochettino due to the expectations of what he’d do and the fact of what he managed.

For instance, within the season earlier than his transfer, the Heesch-born marksman gained the Eredivisie Golden Boot and amassed a sensational haul of 31 targets and 7 assists in 49 appearances throughout all competitions.

Nevertheless, in his one and solely full season in North London, he may solely muster up a tally of six targets and 4 assists in 38 video games, and after a mortgage to Fenerbahçe for the 17/18 season, he was offered to Mexican outfit Monterrey a 12 months after that for simply £6.3m.

In all, Janssen was a flop for Spurs and Poch, however he didn’t price the membership as a lot cash as one other signing from the Netherlands did.

The Poch flop who price Spurs thousands and thousands

In the summertime of 2017, Tottenham set the file for the most costly defender in soccer historical past once they agreed to the £50m sale of Kyle Walker to Manchester Metropolis.

This meant they have been now gentle on the again and had a hefty wad of money burning a gap of their pocket.

So, Pochettino and Daniel Levy regarded to the continent and determined to signal the up-and-coming Davinson Sanchez from Ajax for a large £42m.

Along with breaking their switch file to signal the then-21-year-old, the membership additionally determined handy him a fairly profitable £65k-per-week contract, which, if he have been nonetheless incomes right this moment, would see him make greater than Van de Ven and Spence, who each make £50k-per-week regardless of being much better gamers.

With that stated, the Colombian worldwide’s first season in North London wasn’t a complete bust, and he ended up making 41 appearances throughout all competitions for the membership, however as issues began to go flawed for the crew within the following years, he started to choose up loads of stick.

For instance, in his last season in North London, the crew conceded a whopping 63 targets within the Premier League alone, and he was labelled “deadwood” and “one of many worst gamers I’ve ever seen” by pundit and former skilled Jamie O’Hara.

In all, the Caloto-born defender made 207 appearances for the membership, during which he scored 5 targets and supplied one help earlier than being offered to Galatasaray in Septbember 2023.

So, while you add his switch charge to his general wage at Spurs, which might have been about £20.4m, the previous Ajax star price the Lilywhites about £62.4m, which breaks all the way down to £301k-per-appaearance, £12.4m-per-goal, £62.4m-per-assist or £10.4m-per-goal-involvement.

In the end, whereas Sanchez wasn’t Pochettino’s worst signing at Spurs, he wasn’t far off, and the actual fact Van de Ven and Spence presently earn lower than he did is a sign that the membership have realized from their errors.