Tottenham Hotspur previously underwent a high-profile rebuild after selling Gareth Bale in 2013
It has already been a seismic summer window for Tottenham Hotspur. Roberto De Zerbi clearly stated his aim to push Spurs back up the Premier League table and has been heavily backed in the transfer market.
Twice breaking the club’s highest-ever fee, initially by paying £85million for Mateus Fernandes before Sandro Tonali’s £100m move from Newcastle United, Tottenham have committed to helping the Italian manager revamp his squad. The arrival of Omar Marmoush on loan with a £50m obligation, swiftly following £85m Savio through the door, pushes their potential outlay up to a club-record £382million.
Not all of the eight recruits have been big-money deals - Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi and Martin Dubravka were free agents - but it does signal Spurs’ ambition to enter a new era under De Zerbi. The sales of Luka Vuskovic, Cristian Romero, Djed Spence, Will Lankshear and others have also helped offset the outlay.
Spurs have undergone several squad rebuilds in recent years but this is the most eye-catching summer since the club snapped up seven first team stars after selling Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in 2013. The club forked out £109m on more than half a new team, which is roughly a third of their current spend. However, Tottenham will hope their fresh crop of new signings enjoy greater success than most of the ‘Magnificent Seven’, as football.london takes a look back at their respective Spurs careers.
Paulinho
The Brazil international was the first new signing through the door as Andre Villas-Boas’ side prepared to enter a new phase. Plenty was expected of the £17m midfielder, who featured in 30 league games during his debut season as the new-look Spurs side flattered to deceive, ultimately finishing sixth in the league under Tim Sherwood.
After Mauricio Pochettino took the reins in 2014, Paulinho fell down the pecking order and saw his league appearances halved before sealing a move to Guangzhou Evergrande, spending six years in China across two spells. However, Paulinho’s quality did briefly shine through during a surprise stint at Barcelona in the 2017/18 campaign. He later returned to Brazil with Corinthians and retired in 2024.
Nacer Chadli
Tottenham’s cheapest signing that summer for £7m, the Belgian winger made a slow start to life in England, scoring just one league goal, but subsequently thrived under Pochettino. He notched an impressive 13 goals in all competitions during the 2014/15 season.
Chadli saw his minutes reduce the following year and opted to join West Bromwich Albion in 2016. The 37-year-old also played for Monaco, Anderlecht, Istanbul Basaksehir, Westerlo and Standard Liege before hanging up his boots professionally.
He did, however, join Liege's reserve team in January 2025. And he was seen linking up with some of his former international team-mates at the World Cup this summer.
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Roberto Soldado
Breaking the new club-record fee that had been set by Paulinho, Roberto Soldado failed to live up to his £26million price tag. Arriving after a prolific season with Valencia, the Spanish centre-forward scored six league goals for Spurs in his first season, with only two coming from open play.
He remained ineffective in his second year, with his overall Spurs record standing at 16 goals in 76 appearances. Upon leaving Tottenham, Soldado featured for several La Liga sides but struggled to replicate his best form, with his highest league goal tally being nine before calling time on his career in 2023.
Etienne Capoue
The £9m midfielder from Toulouse was a bit-part player during his two years at Spurs, clocking up 36 appearances in all competitions. However, Capoue would later become a fan favourite with Watford, where he reached the 2019 FA Cup final, before playing a key role in Villarreal’s journey to Europa League glory in 2021, ending his career with the Spanish club in 2024.
Vlad Chiriches
Another of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ that never became a regular for Spurs, Vlad Chiriches was a squad player for his two years with the club, later fulfilling a similar role for Napoli. The Romanian defender did become a key figure for Sassuolo before a return to FCSB.
He left the Bucharest-based club at the end of last season and hasn't yet found a new team. But he talked down the suggestion of retirement in a recent interview.
Christian Eriksen
An undeniable success. The Danish midfielder was pivotal to the side that flourished under Pochettino’s leadership and was one of the Premier League’s standout players for several years as Spurs strived to win major honours. Eriksen made 305 appearances for Tottenham before joining Inter Milan in 2019.
The footballing world will not forget how he made a remarkable return to the game after suffering a cardiac arrest in 2021. The 34-year-old starred for Brentford and signed for Manchester United in the top-flight before joining current club Wolfsburg last year.
More recently, Eriksen collapsed on the pitch during a Denmark friendly against Ukraine in June, though he quickly regained consciousness. Wolfsburg confirmed last month that the midfielder would be undergoing individual rehabilitation in Denmark, with the club remaining in close contact with Eriksen and his doctors.
Erik Lamela
Spurs completed their spending spree by breaking their transfer record for a third time to secure Erik Lamela from Roma for £30m. The Argentine made just nine league appearances in his first season but remained at Spurs longer than any other player in this list.
The versatile forward featured 257 times during his eight years with the club and showed flashes of brilliance, without ever becoming a vital player for Tottenham. Upon leaving in 2021, he later won the Europa League with Sevilla and ended his playing career with AEK Athens. The 34-year-old has since moved into coaching and recently became an assistant at Mexican club Monterrey.