While they haven’t always been the most successful team over the last 15 years or so, Tottenham Hotspur have been blessed with plenty of incredible players.
The likes of Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, Mouse Dembélé, Son Heung-min, and more have all dazzled fans and Premier League rivals alike with their sensational talent and ability.
However, for all the unreal stars who have pulled on the famous white shirt, there have been more than a few flops over the years.
One such disappointment was Roberto Soldado, and unfortunately, it looks like the club has their modern-day version of the Spaniard in the squad.
Soldado's Spurs career
In the summer of 2013, around a month before the then-world-record sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, Tottenham were looking for a player who could come in and help replace some of the goals they’d end up losing with the Welshman.
So, they looked to La Liga and decided to sign Valencia’s prolific striker Soldado for around £26m – a club record – which seemed like a brilliant piece of business at the time.
After all, across his final two campaigns with the Spanish giants, the Valencia-born poacher managed to score 57 goals and provide 11 assists in just 97 appearances, which worked out to a brilliant average of a goal involvement every 1.42 games.
Appearances
51
46
36
40
Goals
27
30
11
5
Assists
6
5
5
6
Goal Involvements per Match
0.64
0.76
0.44
0.27
Unfortunately, such red-hot form did not follow him to North London. In fact, he seemed to lose almost all of his goalscoring abilities upon arriving in England, as in his first season, he managed a rather average return of 11 goals and five assists in 36 games.
Things got even worse in his second year with the club, as in 40 appearances across all competitions, the previously prolific number nine could muster up just five goals and six assists, which came out to an uninspiring average of a goal involvement every 3.63 games.
With Soldado an undeniable flop by this point, Tottenham agreed to sell him to Villarreal two years after signing him, only to make a similar mistake less than a decade later.
Spurs' new Soldado
Unfortunately for Spurs, they have made more than their fair share of bad signings since Soldado left the club, from Tanguy Ndombele to Vincent Janssen.
Chalkboard
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However, when it comes to someone who could be described as the club’s modern-day version of the Spaniard, only one player comes to mind: Richarlison.
The Brazilian joined the North Londoners for a massive fee when Antonio Conte oversaw his £60m move from Everton in the summer of 2022.
Moreover, while the former Watford star was an effective attacker at his previous side, racking up 53 goals and 15 assists for the Toffees, he has failed to establish himself in the Lilywhites’ first team – just like the former Valencia star.
For example, in his first season at the club, the 28-year-old racked up a disastrously poor tally of three goals and four assists in 35 appearances, which came out to an average of a goal involvement every five games.
Appearances
35
31
24
Goals
3
12
5
Assists
4
4
2
Goal Involvements per Match
0.2
0.51
0.29
The following campaign was certainly better as he scored 12 goals and provided four assists in 31 appearances, but then this season was once again rather underwhelming, as he scored five goals and provided two assists in 24 games.
The Nova Venécia-attacker is an incredibly “frustrating” player, per Ally McCoist, because, like Soldado before him, he’s undeniably talented, but he’s just not been able to show it enough since moving to the capital almost three years ago.
Ultimately, while he played his part in the Europa League triumph last week, it might be in everyone’s best interest if Richarlison is sold this summer.
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