Son Heung-min is one of the biggest legends in Tottenham Hotspur‘s history – but his debut for the club in 2015 wasn’t exactly the most memorable.
Signed from Bayer Leverkusen, Son made his first Spurs appearance in a 1-0 win over Sunderland and was substituted after 62 minutes.
Happily, things soon picked up for the South Korean forward afterwards. But what became of his team-mates from that September afternoon in the North East?
GK: Hugo Lloris
Lloris left Tottenham after 11 years and almost 450 appearances in December 2023, having fallen behind Guglielmo Vicario in the pecking order following the appointment of Ange Postecoglou.
“I needed something new, something different,” the former France captain explained on his decision to join MLS outfit LAFC.
“I had great moments in Europe. I was just looking for different opportunities, to experience a new continent, to experience a new life as well.”
The veteran goalkeeper has been a near ever-present between the sticks for LAFC in both of the last two MLS campaigns.
RB: Kyle Walker
Walker had already been at Spurs for four seasons by 2015 and had gradually become England’s starting right-back too.
Devastatingly quick, the Sheffield-born defender was eventually sold to Manchester City for £50million two years later and became one of the most successful players in Premier League history.
Now firmly in the autumn of his career, Walker has signed for Burnley and still remains part of the England squad.
CB: Toby Alderweireld
Alderweireld’s move to Tottenham caused plenty of controversy in 2015.
Southampton thought they had first refusal on the player after an impressive loan spell during the 2014-15 season.
But parent club Atletico Madrid cancelled that option and accepted a higher bid from Spurs.
It’s fair to say Alderweireld repaid the faith shown in him, making 236 appearances for Tottenham and becoming an essential part of their progress in the latter half of the 2010s.
He moved to Qatari side Al-Duhail in the summer of 2021, bringing an end to six years at Spurs, before ending his career back in Belgium with Royal Antwerp.
CB: Jan Vertonghen
The other half of Spurs’ excellent Belgian defensive duo, Vertonghen has also recently retired.
After spending a couple of years with Benfica, he ended his career at Anderlecht and played his final match in May 2025.
LB: Ben Davies
One of two players to join Spurs from Swansea in the summer of 2014, Davies arrived in a swap deal for Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson.
A highly-rated 21-year-old left-back, Davies remains at Spurs and has played over 350 games for the club.
The Wales international has come in for criticism at times, but, now 32, he is one of the more experienced members of the current squad and has overall been an excellent signing.
CM: Eric Dier
After almost 10 years of service and well over 300 appearances, Dier departed Tottenham in January 2024 to take on a new challenge at Bayern Munich.
An initial loan spell was enough to convince Bayern to sign the defender permanently and Dier became a surprisingly regular part of Vincent Kompany’s team.
He left the Bundesliga champions at the end of the 2024-25 season and signed for Monaco.
CM: Ryan Mason (Tom Carroll 85′)
A sad story with a happy twist. Mason left his boyhood club in 2016 to join Hull City only to be forced to retire two years later at the age of just 26 due to a fractured skull suffered in a clash of heads with Gary Cahill in 2017.
In April 2018, Mason returned to Tottenham on a voluntary basis to help coach youth teams while taking his coaching badges.
He became interim manager at Spurs on two separate occasions and is now head coach at West Bromwich Albion.
A promising young midfielder, Carroll ultimately became a perennial loanee at White Hart Lane, spending time at Leyton Orient, Derby County, QPR and Swansea City while making just 27 league appearances for his parent club.
The former England Under-21 international eventually left on a permanent deal, returning to Swansea in 2017.
After several unfulfilling moves, most recently to Reading for the second half of 2024-25, Carroll is now a free agent.
QUIZ: Can you name Tottenham’s most expensive signing from every year since 2000?
RW: Son Heung-min (Andros Townsend 62′)
Son will go down as one of the best signings in Tottenham’s history.
The South Korea international was purchased from Bayer Leverkusen for £22million 10 years ago and has since scored 173 goals for the club, becoming an integral part of that sensational Pochettino team.
Furthermore, Son has become a Spurs icon for his infectious spirit and unwavering loyalty to the club. Even neutrals were pleased for the forward when he lifted the Europa League trophy in May 2025.
Townsend was loaned out nine times by Tottenham before eventually breaking into the first team as an inconsistent winger who occasionally scored wonder goals.
Since leaving Spurs, he spent time at Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Everton as an inconsistent winger who occasionally scored wonder goals.
He now plays in Thailand for Kanchanaburi Power and is also a blossoming pundit, regularly appearing on co-commentary for ITV.
CAM: Dele Alli (Eric Lamela 65′)
At his peak under Mauricio Pochettino, Dele was a force to be reckoned with.
The 29-year-old was a natural goalscorer in his younger years as he scored 67 goals for Tottenham across 269 appearances.
But injuries and off-field problems meant the attacking midfielder gradually slid from view. He’s now in Italy with Como, but is rumoured to be considering retirement after failing to rediscover his mojo.
Lamela was the last man standing from the seven players that arrived at Spurs in 2013, finally joining Sevilla in 2021 in a swap deal that saw Bryan Gil move in the opposite direction.
The Argentine winger was signed as a like-for-like replacement for Bale and was the most expensive of the seven arrivals that summer, costing £30million from Roma.
Lamela was plagued by a string of injury problems but did provide flashes of genius when fit, including not one but two rabona goals.
He now plays in Greece for AEK Athens.
LW: Nacer Chadli
Chadli signed from FC Twente for £7million and was a regular during his three seasons at the Lane, scoring 25 goals for the club including an impressive 13 in his second season.
The winger is one of two players on this list who Spurs actually made a profit on as they sold him to West Brom for £13million in 2015.
After two years at The Hawthorns, he had brief spells at Monaco, Anderlecht, Westerlo and Istanbul Basaksehir. At 36, he is now back in Belgium with Standard Liege.
ST: Harry Kane
Kane was going through a mini goal drought in September 2015, leaving some pundits to declare his breakthrough 2014-15 campaign was a one-off.
Now Spurs and England’s record goalscorer, Kane is tearing up at Bayern Munich and is considered one of the best strikers of his generation.