Tottenham Hotspur are a club often renowned for their shrewd business in the transfer markets, often opting for a cut-price alternative to the biggest, brightest and often most expensive targets they would like.
This has at least been the strategy under Daniel Levy, who is widely seen as one of the more frugal men in the Premier League.
Whilst this has often seen him unearth stars for bargain deals, it also forces the Lilywhites to miss out on players who could bolster the squad.
Although in the last few years that has changed, their last real splurge came after the world-record sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid.
The misuse of the majority of those funds is still sneered at today, with the acquisition of Roberto Soldado often drawing the most criticism.
How did Roberto Soldado play at Spurs?
Signed for £26m, it was expected that the Spaniard would be able to uphold a Spurs strike force that was yet to be exposed to the talents of the now legendary talisman Harry Kane.
They sought a reliable goal scorer and bringing in someone who the season prior had just notched 24 goals in La Liga did make sense.
However, he was one of many who struggled to translate that into the English game, and his lack of proficiency in front of goal became a point of ridicule for the north London outfit.
In 52 appearances in the Premier League, Soldado would muster just seven goals, making his astronomical fee for the time even more foolish.
To compound this, the now 37-year-old spent his two years on a mouth-watering £105k-per-week contract which in turn swallowed another £10.8m from the pockets of Levy too.
GRAPHIC
In total he would drain the club of £36.8m, meaning it cost them £5.2m for every top-flight goal scored.
Back in 2015, it was suggested by journalist Kevin Palmer that had the forward not been “so useless“ Spurs might have gone further in the Europa League that year too.
This had come two years after journalist Sam Tighe had suggested he might be the “flop of the season” given how “limited” he was.
Was Soldado the worst use of the Bale money?
Yes
No
Of the seven players enlisted to replace the sensational Bale, Soldado surely sits at the bottom of the list given his non-existent impact on the club whilst taking them for a ride financially.
