Their best signing since Bale & Son: Spurs hit gold with world-class star

Their trophy cabinet might not reflect this, but Tottenham Hotspur have had some sensationally talented players in recent history.

The likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Mousa Dembélé are just some of the incredible stars who have pulled on the famous white shirt in modern history.

Moreover, while this season has been an unquestionable failure, at least on the domestic front, Ange Postecoglou still has a number of brilliant talents in his squad.

In fact, it could be said that one of his star men has been the club’s best signing since Gareth Bale and Son Heung-min.

Son and Bale’s Spurs records

Tottenham completed the £10m signing of Bale from Southampton in May 2007, and while the Welshman’s first couple of seasons in North London were a nightmare of injuries and poor form, a positional shift from full-back to winger under Harry Redknapp in the 09/10 season changed everything.

Instead of having to think about attacking and defending, the former Saints gem was free to focus his attention at the sharp end of the pitch, and over the following few years, transformed from a promising young winger into one of the best in the world.

It was in the 12/13 season that the Cardiff-born monster reached truly world-class levels, as in just 44 appearances, totalling 3891 minutes, the Spurs phenomenon scored 26 goals and provided ten assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.22 games, or every 108.08 minutes.

Such a sensational rate of return was enough to convince Real Madrid to spend a then-world-record £85m on the Lilywhites ace, but it would be two years until the North Londoners would have another exceptional winger in the team when they spent around £22m on then-Bayer Leverkusen gem Son.

The South Korean superstar was something of an unknown quantity to most Premier League fans at the time, but it didn’t take him too long to change that, as in just his second season with the Lilywhites, the Chuncheon-born dynamo racked up a tally of 21 goals and seven assists in 47 games.

Today, the 32-year-old has an incredible record of 173 goals and 95 assists in 448 appearances, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.67 games, and on top of that, he wears the captain’s armband.

In short, both Bale and Son proved to be incredible signings for Spurs, and it could be said that one of Ange’s stars this season could follow in a similar path.

Spurs’ best signing since Bale or Son

So, the unfortunate reality is that while there are some brilliant players in the team today, there are not many who could fit into this category, apart from Dejan Kulusevski.

The Swedish international initially joined the club under Antonio Conte on an 18-month loan deal but was then signed on a permanent basis for just £25m in June 2023.

Now, it would be fair to say that during his first couple of campaigns for the club, the Stockholm-born star could be a little inconsistent, running games on his own one week and then fading into the background the next.

However, this season has seen the 24-year-old take a massive step forward, as Postecoglou’s decision to play him more in midfield than on the wing has allowed him to impact games far more than he ever did.

For example, in 42 appearances, totalling 3054 minutes, the “world-class” attacker, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has scored ten goals and provided ten assists.

That means he’s currently averaging a goal involvement every 2.1 games, or every 152.7 minutes, which, for a midfielder in a team struggling as much as the Lilywhites have this season, is seriously impressive.

Moreover, the underlying numbers of the games that the former Juventus star has played in midfield this season are nothing short of incredible.

According to FBref, he sits in the top 1% of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues for progressive carries, shot-creating actions via take-ons, touches in the opposition’s penalty area, carries into the penalty area, the top 2% for key passes, the top 3% for non-penalty goals and more, all per 90.

In short, while he might not necessarily be as talented as Bale or Son were at their peaks, Kulusevski remains potentially Spurs’ best player today and arguably their best signing since picking up the former Bayer Leverkusen star ten years ago.

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