In this article, we present to you our top 5 picks for the best midfielders that have represented Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League (PL) era.
Luka Modrić
This is the easiest one, isn’t it? So let’s get the great Croat out of the way first. Modrić arrived at Spurs in the summer of 2008 for €22.5 million from Dinamo Zagreb, He featured in 160 games for the Lilywhites, scoring 17 goals and providing another 24 assists before moving to Real Madrid for €35 million in 2012.
Modrić was rated La Liga’s worst signing of the 2012/13 season. Four league trophies, six Champions Leagues, and one Ballon d’Or later, the 38-year-old is still a Galáctico, now in his 13th season at the Santiago Bernabéu. Talk about disastrous calls.
Rafael van der Vaart
Yes, he did not stay at Spurs for long, but Van der Vaart stayed long enough to leave an indelible mark at White Hart Lane. Arriving from Real Madrid in a reverse-Modrić move in 2010 for €10.5 million, the expressive Dutchman delivered 28 goals and 18 assists in 77 appearances before turning the club a profit by returning to German side Hamburg two years later for €13 million.
Christian Eriksen
Had it not been for the horrendous calamity that befell him at Euro 2020 which ultimately ended his Inter Milan career on a technicality and took a few years off his prime, Eriksen would have had an even greater career.
But that’s not to say he has not been without his moments. One of Denmark’s all-time greatest exports was attracting eyeballs from all European giants during his time at Spurs. He is arguably the best signing among the many Spurs made with the Gareth Bale money, having moved to North London from Ajax for €14.15 million. He went on to make 305 appearances from Spurs across all competitions, producing 69 goals and 88 assists before moving on to Inter Milan for €27 million.
Mousa Dembélé
With deep-lying midfielders going for big bucks these days, and with Sergio Busquets in the final years of his career, football fans have finally started to properly appreciate the importance of a good on-the-ball defensive operator.
Mousa Dembélé was of course so much more than that, capable of playing as a No. 8 as well as an attacking midfielder. Unplayable on his day, Dembélé was a key asset of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham and delivered ten goals and assists each during his six-and-half-year stay at White Hart Lane in nearly 250 appearances across all competitions.
Oh, what a top manager wouldn’t give to have a prime Dembélé at their disposal today!
Dele Alli
Yes, Dele Alli’s is a tragic story, but whoever said tragedies don’t have high points?
At Tottenham, regardless of how things ended, there can be no denial of the fact that Alli was a world-beater at his peak. Picked up from Milton Keynes as a teenager, Alli took little time to make his mark, and now that we know what he has gone through, the numbers he went on to generate for the club look even more staggering in retrospect.
What do you think of our picks here? Do you think someone else should have made the cut? Let us know in the comments below.
