When Tottenham Hotspur sell a key player for mega money, there is history now to tell us that the cash isn’t always invested very well. Still, Daniel Levy is no longer at Spurs, so things may well change in the future.
After Gareth Bale left north London behind, heading to Real Madrid to the tune of £85m, the ‘Magnificent 7’, as they were infamously known, were not much of a success.
Enter Paulinho, Christian Eriksen, Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches and Erik Lamela. While the latter scored that ridiculous Rabona goal, the only real success story here was Eriksen, a creative and technical marvel.
Ten years later, it was Harry Kane’s time to leave Spurs. He moved to Bayern Munich for a fee of around £86m, a relative bargain considering what he’s achieved since.
Arguably, like Bale, money was not well spent the summer he departed. The signings of summer 2023 were rather hit or miss. While Dejan Kulusevski arrived permanently, they spent £45m on an inconsistent Brennan Johnson and £50m on an injury-prone James Maddison.
Meanwhile, in 2024 £65m was spent on Dominic Solanke, who also cannot stay fit, while young gems in the form of Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert also joined. Not quite a magnificent seven, but more of an average trio. Gray and Odobert may well come good, but Solanke’s ceiling has likely already been hit.
So, perhaps Thomas Frank and Co will need to look to the academy again, just as they did when handing Kane his debut back in 2011. Once all was said and done, he’d found the net on 280 occasions, leaving as their all-time record goalscorer and Arsenal’s chief nemesis.
His form in Germany since has been nothing short of scintillating.
Harry Kane's season in numbers
Kane does goals. There’s not a whole lot else to say. Even bringing the likes of Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak into the equation, he is currently the best centre-forward in world football. The numbers support that.
While Viktor Gyokeres won the Gerd Muller Trophy at the recent Ballon d’Or ceremony, proclaimed as the best striker of 2024/25, Kane deserved to be in the conversation.
Gyokeres, for context, scored 54 times last season, but Kane ran him close, netting 41 in 51 outings.
Well, in 2025/26, he looks like he’s on track for the best season of his career as he moves into his 32nd year.
If you thought Kane couldn’t get any more ruthless, then think again. This season he has undeniably been the best player in Europe, scoring a mind-boggling 17 goals in nine games.
He’s scoring at a record of a goal every 46 minutes. It’s a level of potency we’ve very rarely ever seen from a striker in the elite game.
Truth be told, it’s peak Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo levels of goalscoring.
Kane has beaten the goalkeeper ten times in five Bundesliga fixtures while in the Champions League, he’s been a demon too, netting four in two matches, including a brace against Chelsea a couple of weeks ago.
The England skipper continued his rich vein of form against Cypriot side Pafos on Tuesday, bagging another two goals. This time he played as a no.10, behind Nicolas Jackson. It had no impact on his ability to score.
Replacing that type of output was always going to be impossible for Spurs. Solanke is a handy striker but he’s always going to be compared to Kane. That’s harsh but it’s the way of the world.
Fortunately, the Lilywhites do have one exciting academy prospect coming through the ranks who looks more exciting than Kane ever did at youth level.
Meet Spurs' most exciting academy talent since Harry Kane
At youth level Kane was impressive, scoring nine goals in 13 official matches for Tottenham Hotspur’s U21 side. Yet, he initially struggled at senior level.
The club’s record scorer didn’t find the net during five matches on loan at Norwich and also found life difficult at Leicester City and Leyton Orient, notching seven across 33 matches during those spells.
Spurs
435
280
England
107
74
Bayern
105
102
Millwall
27
9
Orient
18
5
Leicester
15
2
Norwich
5
0
Nine goals in 29 matches at Millwall was slightly more productive but it wasn’t until 2014/15 where he finally showcased his elite potential.
That term the Englishman registered 31 goals for Spurs and since then, there hasn’t been a single campaign where he’s not scored fewer than 20 across a single season.
Many have come through the academy since then hoping to emulate that sort of record. The likes of Dane Scarlett, Troy Parrott and Will Lankshear, while still young, did not show enough in their fleeting appearances.
There are still high hopes for Mikey Moore, too. The 17-year-old was compared to Neymar by James Maddison last season and has so much potential.
Yet, the most exciting talent bursting through the ranks is another 17-year-old, Luca Williams-Barnett.
The teenager may be unknown to many supporters but has already made his first-team debut, appearing for the final three minutes of Spurs’ League Cup win over Doncaster Rovers last week.
Those minutes were a fine reward for his remarkable development over the last few years. If Spurs were looking for their own Max Dowman, then they have found it here.
A no.10 by trade, who can also play up top, the talented teen was superb last season, scoring 20 goals and registering a further 12 assists in 23 outings.
He’s begun the 2025/26 term in a similar vein of form with six goals and four assists in eight appearances for the U21s.
In The Pipeline
Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.
As data analyst Ben Mattinson has outlined, he is “one of England’s best talents at youth level” and he also “scores bangers”.
His hat-trick earlier this season may not have showcased this but it proved he’s usually always in the right place at the right time, influencing play positively.
A goalscorer, a creator, an innate dribbler, Williams-Barnett has all of the tools to thrive at Spurs in the coming years.
However, for Frank, the challenge will be finding him regular minutes now in the Premier League. Their fierce rivals Arsenal, have led the way by giving the likes of Ethan Nwaneri and Dowman so many minutes over the last year.
Could Spurs be brewing their own version here? The future certainly looks bright.
