To say that it’s been a mixed start to the season for Tottenham Hotspur this year would probably be an understatement.
In their three Premier League games thus far, they have drawn away to Leicester City, won at home to Everton and lost away to Newcastle United. However, against the Foxes and the Magpies, Ange Postecoglou’s side produced a higher expected goals figure, suggesting that a lack of cutting-edge up top is letting them down.
The North Londoners did spend big on Dominic Solanke this summer, but a minor injury has seen him miss the last two games, and as effective as the Englishman is sure to be in this Lilywhites side, he, along with almost every other striker in the league will be battling for second place in the top goalscorers list behind the unstoppable Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian goal machine has started this season on fire and looks like the best striker on the planet, but interestingly, Spurs have had a player that, in 2024 money, would be worth even more than the treble-winner.
Haaland’s incredible form
Yes, similarly to how the vast majority of fans and pundits have tipped Manchester City to finish atop the Premier League table again this season, there is a feeling that should he remain fit, Haaland will win the Golden Boot with relative ease.
For example, during his time with Borussia Dortmund, the Norwegian powerhouse scored 86 goals and provided 23 assists in 89 appearances. Whereas in England, he has already scored 97 goals and provided 14 assists in just 102 games for City.
This season alone, he has already bagged seven goals in four matches, including hattricks against Ipswich Town and West Ham United within the space of a week.
Simply put, there is no stopping the Leeds-born phenom, and understandably, his valuation is enormous, with Football Transfers valuing him at €144m, which converts to about £121m.
However, while that’s an incredible amount of money, Spurs actually sold a star of their own in the past for a sum that would translate into even more money when adjusted for the current transfer market.
Gareth Bale’s valuation in 2024
So, the former Spurs ace in question is none other than Wales legend Gareth Bale, who left the club to join Real Madrid for a massive £85m in the summer of 2013.Now, that figure alone is obviously less than Haaland’s current valuation, but thanks to the smart folk at Totally Money, we can adjust that fee for the rapid inflation football has experienced in the 11 years since and work out that, in today’s money, the Welshman would have been sold for a mammoth £166m—or about £45m more than the Norwegian is currently worth.It’s certainly an incredible amount of money, but the former Southampton gem was a massively important part of Spurs’ squad and had just come off an astounding season in which he had scored 26 goals and provided ten assists in just 44 appearances for the club, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 1.22 games.
Moreover, the “world-class” attacker, as he was dubbed by former manager Andre Villas-Boas, was only 24 at the time and, therefore, had plenty of time to reach another level in Spain, and indeed he did.
In all, the Cardiff-born superstar won five Champions Leagues, three La Liga, oneCopa del Rey and a whole host of smaller trophies in Madrid and even returned to North London on loan for the 2020/21 season, in which he scored 16 goals and provided three assists in 34 games.
