The Spurs flop who saw his value collapse by £29m in London

As Tottenham Hotspur have found out on numerous occasions during the last decade or so, splashing the cash on marquee signings isn’t always the wisest approach, with the north Londoners having been far too regularly stung in the transfer market.

The addition of Tanguy Ndombele is one notable horror story that Daniel Levy will wish to forget, the mercurial Frenchman having signed on a record £63m deal back in 2019, only to have fallen by the wayside at N17 amid a string of loan spells away from the club.

The former Lyon man is far from being the only costly mistake of Mauricio Pochettino’s time in charge, however, with Spurs’ previous record capture having also flattered to deceive during a dismal stint in the capital.

How much Spurs paid for Davinson Sanchez

Having finished second during the 2016/17 campaign – the club’s best performance in the Premier League era – Pochettino and co moved to strengthen that following summer by forking out a then-record fee on Ajax starlet, Davinson Sanchez.

The Colombian centre-back had just played his part in helping the Amsterdam outfit to the final of the Europa League, with Levy opting to cough up £42m in order to secure his services, amid the need to find a suitable successor to the likes of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.

Likened to Dutch legend Jaap Stam by Ruud Gullit, the 21-year-old looked to be the next big thing as far as Spurs were concerned, despite Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar suggesting that the then-youngster had left the Eredivisie side “too early”.

On reflection, perhaps the former Manchester United man was right, with Sanchez struggling to adapt over the next six years, prior to his eventual exit last summer.

The fee Spurs sold Sanchez for

In terms of recently departed Spurs centre-backs, much criticism often fell the way of new Bayern Munich man, Eric Dier, with journalist Ryan Taylor describing the Englishman as “nowhere near the required level” last year.

For all the 30-year-old’s woes, he did prove a solid performer for almost a decade at N17, racking up 364 appearances in all competitions, while chipping in with 13 goals and 12 assists in that time.

Sanchez, meanwhile, only lasted six years before being belatedly shown the door, the 6 foot 2 dud joining Galatasaray in the summer of 2023 having arguably been “one of the worst players” to have played for the club, in the words of ex-Tottenham midfielder, Jamie O’Hara.

Also notably targeted by Jermaine Jenas for one particularly “shocking” display in the defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers back in 2022, the 58-cap international rarely looked convincing at the heart of the defence, even being booed by his own support amid a miserable cameo against Bournemouth last season.

That outing against the Cherries – in which Sanchez was subbed on only to then be removed just 23 minutes later – marked the beginning of the end for his time at the club, with new boss Ange Postecoglou eventually sanctioning his sale for around £12.8m.

That exit roughly represents a £29m loss for Spurs with regard to their initial £42m outlay, albeit with the club quickly able to move on from that expensive mistake with the signing of Dutch “Superman” Micky van de Ven – as hailed by journalist Suleyman Ozturk.

On the early evidence, the former Wolfsburg speedster is already making the sort of impact that neither Sanchez – nor perhaps Dier – could in Lilywhite…