Planet Football

Ten years have passed since the release of Football Manager 2015, prompting us to check in on what became of Tottenham’s much-hyped wonderkids from that particular edition of the wildly popular football management simulation game.

Coming right at the start of the Mauricio Pochettino era, Spurs had a couple of gems in their academy system that would soon become integral parts of the first-team.

Having picked them out via the FMScout archives, here are Spurs’ eight wonderkids from Football Manager 2015 – and where they’re at a decade later.

Eric Dier

After almost 10 years of service and well over 300 appearances, Dier departed Tottenham in January 2024 to take on a new challenge at Bayern Munich.

An initial loan spell was enough to convince Bayern to sign the defender permanently and, even though he’s more of a bit-part player under Vincent Kompany, Dier is now playing Champions League football while Spurs kick their heels in the Europa League.

Cameron Carter-Vickers

Formerly a perennial loanee, going out on loan to no fewer than seven clubs while on Tottenham’s books, it never looked as though US international Carter-Vickers was ever going to break through and stake his claim at his parent club.

He never made a Premier League appearance for Spurs and his only opportunities came in the cup competitions.

However, the defender made a big step up during his final loan away, playing a vital role as Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic took the Scottish title back from Rangers.

Carter-Vickers remains an important player at Parkhead and has helped Celtic cement their status as the dominant force in Scottish football.

Kyle Walker-Peters

Walker-Peters was on the fringes of Tottenham’s first team throughout his time in north London, making 24 appearances in all competitions, including the Champions League.

In January 2020, the full-back joined Southampton on loan and made the move permanent that summer.

He has since established himself as a solid Premier League full-back, making over 140 appearances for the club and helping the Saints win promotion in May 2024.

Nabil Bentaleb

“I would be a hypocrite to say that I would not like to be there, and I am not a hypocrite,” Bentaleb told The Independent in February 2019, reflecting on his time at Tottenham. “But this is football.”

The Algeria international looked set to become an important squad member at Spurs, starting the 2015 League Cup final, but fell out with Mauricio Pochettino before being sold to Schalke in 2017.

Now 29, Bentlaeb is playing in Ligue 1 with Lille which sounds about right.

READ NEXT: Where are they now? Jose Mourinho’s Spurs XI which thrashed Man Utd 6-1 at Old Trafford

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Tottenham’s top 30 goalscorers in the Premier League?

Dele Alli

Once one of the brightest prospects in English football, Alli’s stock waned so much at Tottenham that they were happy to let him go for free.

He joined Everton midway through the 2021-22 season but failed to make much of an impact in their battle against the drop and has since been loaned out to Turkish Super Lig giants Besiktas – but he couldn’t reignite his career away from the spotlight out in Istanbul.

Dele has since returned to his parent club and spoke refreshingly candidly about the impact of his tough upbringing and mental health battles.

Despite technically being a free agent, Everton are giving him all the time he needs to get himself right to play again. We’re all rooting for him.

Joshua Onomah

Highly rated during his time at Tottenham, Onomah never quite realised that early potential and was sold to Fulham in 2019.

He twice helped the Cottagers get promoted as they yo-yoed between the Premier League and Championship, but barely featured under Marco Silva in 2022-23 and was released at the end of his contract.

Onomah spent a brief stint alongside Woodman and Ledson at Preston but never extended his contract beyond an initial six months.

He spent last season out of the game entirely, beyond a trial at Stoke City that never went anywhere, but has now signed a short-term deal with League One side Blackpool.

Harry Kane

Ten years ago, Kane was just about to break into the Tottenham first team. He is now England and Tottenham’s record goalscorer and continues to score freely at Bayern Munich.

QUIZ: Can you name every country Harry Kane has scored against for England?

Ismael Azzaoui

Definitely the most obscure player in this list, Azzaoui lasted a single, appearance-free season at Spurs before being offloaded to Wolfsburg in 2015.

The most prolific spell of the striker’s nomadic career came in the form of seven goals in 50 games for Dutch side Heracles. He now plays in Azerbaijan for Araz-Naxcivan.

Tottenham have gone through something of a rebuild in the recent era, with a fair amount of squad churn since Mauricio Pochettino departed the club five years ago.

While Harry Kane is off scoring goals for fun in the Bundesliga, a number of their other high-profile ex-players are currently struggling to find a club.

We’ve picked out four former Spurs players that are currently free agents.

Dele Alli

Starting with the big one. Obviously it’s well documented how Dele’s career has gone in recent years.

We’d never have believed you back in 2016, when he was one of the most exciting young talents in all of Europe, if you’d told us this is how things would go. Bit like predicting Cole Palmer will end up without a club in eight years time.

Dele has spoken refreshingly candidly about his difficult upbringing and struggles off the pitch and we can’t help but root for him. Unfortunately he hasn’t kicked a ball professionally for over a year now and we’re approaching half a decade since he last enjoyed a regular run of starts.

Before his quiet exit from Everton in the summer, Dele made an appearance on Monday Night Football and spoke about his ambitions of making England’s World Cup squad for 2026. We’d love to see it – but first he needs a club.

He’s been training with Everton since his contract expired with the Toffees, but it remains to be seen if he’ll sign a new deal with the club.

Serge Aurier

Since leaving Spurs three years ago, the notoriously hot-headed right-back has had stints with Villarreal, Nottingham Forest and Galatasaray but struggled to nail down a settled home.

The 31-year-old only made four appearances in Galatasaray’s Turkish Super Lig title triumph last season, and unlike his former team-mate Davinson Sanchez found himself unable to earn a long-term contract after initially joining on a short-term deal.

READ NEXT: Where are they now? Jose Mourinho’s Spurs XI that thrashed Man Utd 6-1 at Old Trafford

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Tottenham’s top 30 goalscorers in the Premier League?

Etienne Capoue

Of “sold Elvis and bought The Beatles” fame alongside Erik Lamela, Roberto Soldado, Paulinho, Christian Eriksen, Vlad Chiriches and Nacer Chadli (who is also a free agent in his twilight years).

While Capoue never quite cut it at Tottenham, the French midfielder has enjoyed a respectable career with over a hundred appearances for both Watford and Villarreal. Must like the colour yellow.

He was named Watford’s Player Of The Season back in 2018-19 and went on to win the Europa League under Unai Emery in 2020-21. Now he’s 36 and winding down his career – this might be the end of the road?

Ryan Fredericks

Fredericks only made a handful of cup cameo appearances for his boyhood Spurs before going on to establish a career elsewhere, with most of his appearances for Fulham and West Ham.

He’s been something of a forgotten man since joining newly-promoted Bournemouth in 2022. The right-back never made it beyond the periphery for the Cherries as they established themselves back in the top flight and didn’t get a look in at all under Andoni Iraola last term due to “recurring injuries”.

You imagine that the 32-year-old will likely have to move back down to the Championship at this point if he’s to extend his career.

Ange Postecoglou’s tenure at Tottenham has divided opinion – but how good a job has the Australian coach done if you zoom out and look at the bigger picture?

Spurs have fluctuated between excellent and disastrous runs of form since Postecoglou was appointed as Antonio Conte’s permanent successor in the summer of 2023.

It’s easy to forget now that the 59-year-old actually made the best start of any coach in Premier League history last season, having led Spurs to eight wins and two draws from his first 10 matches at the helm.

But it would be an understatement to say that Postecoglou’s Spurs struggled to maintain that early title-worthy form. They picked up just one point from 15 available immediately after that strong start and later lost five of the last seven matches of last season.

The combination ultimately levelled out at Spurs ending up fifth in the Premier League table, which can probably be considered about par when you consider their transfer spending, the loss of talisman Harry Kane, and wage bill.

On the one hand, they did well to finish ahead of Chelsea and Manchester United – both of whom spend considerably more in terms of transfers and wages – but on the other hand they can consider it a missed opportunity to be pipped to Champions League qualification by Aston Villa after two of their immediate rivals dramatically underperformed.

Having made moves in the transfer market to further shape the squad in Postecoglou’s image in the summer, Spurs have continued to oscillate between impressive and underwhelming.

They’ve been superb in big wins over Everton, Manchester United and West Ham but hapless in defeats to Newcastle and Brighton and disappointingly flat as they were defeated 1-0 by Arsenal in the North London derby.

Despite the mixed record, the man himself is bullish and has reiterated he fully believes that he’s got what it takes to deliver success for Tottenham.

“In my 26 years of managing I’ve had success and most of that has come in the second year, not all of it. Sometimes it’s happened in the first year, sometimes in the third year,” Postecoglou told reporters in the wake of Spurs’ early season defeat at home to Arsenal.

“I don’t see why that puts extra pressure. It doesn’t put extra pressure on me because I love the fact that I’ve done that. It’s what I want to do here.

“I’d like to think that just saying the truth is the way to go forward but I think sometimes that’s too confronting for people, they’d much rather I didn’t.

“I’ve made it pretty clear what my expectations are. But that doesn’t mean that I stop, that just fuels the fire of ‘why didn’t I do it?’

“There’s no chance in any universe I could have got here from Australia and be sitting here answering questions at one of the biggest clubs in the world and the best competition in the world if I didn’t have some sort of self-belief based on something of substance.

“I was never going to get here with my charm and good looks.”

READ NEXT: The 11 Tottenham players out on loan in 2024-25 & how they’ve been faring

TRY A QUIZ:Can you name every manager to take charge of Tottenham in the Premier League?

Here’s how the Premier League table stacks up if you go back to the start of last season, after Postecoglou was appointed by Tottenham that summer.

As they were last season, Spurs remain fifth over Postecoglou’s entire reign so far, which is a surprisingly respectable position given some of the low points and criticism that the manager has faced. There’s only a small gap behind Aston Villa, suggesting that the club can challenge for Champions League qualification with a little more consistency this season.

Note: all teams have played 45 matches unless otherwise specified. We’ve also only included the 17 teams that have been in the Premier League throughout, excluding last season’s relegated sides and this year’s newly-promoted trio.

Tottenham made further moves in the transfer market over the summer, signing the likes of Dominic Solanke, Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert as they looked to further shape the squad in Ange Postecoglou’s image.

While there have been a number of fresh faces through the door, a number – ranging from senior players to younger academy graduates on the fridges – have been shipped out on loan, with no role to play in Postecoglou’s immediate plans for the 2024-25 campaign.

We figured this would be a good opportunity to check in on how the 11 players that Spurs have sent out on loan are faring elsewhere so far this season.

Matthew Craig

Having made 18 appearances in League Two for Doncaster Rovers in the latter half of last season, it was always unlikely that Scotland Under-21 defensive midfielder Craig would make the giant leap to feature for his parent club this season.

But he’s continuing his development, once again in South Yorkshire, at a higher level – this time at League One Barnsley. He’s been a near ever-present at the base of midfield for the Tykes so far this season, having started nine of their 10 matches in the third tier.

Barnsley currently sit underwhelmingly bang in midtable, with a mixed record of four wins, three draws and three defeats, but this ought to prove a useful learning curve for the youngster.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

A pragmatist might have suggested that Hojbjerg’s experience might have been useful in stodging things up in Spurs’ recent 3-2 defeat to Brighton, but for better or worse the club appear intent on going Full Angeball – and last season the Dane never looked the most natural fit for that full-blooded, front-footed style.

You might say the say the same about Roberto De Zerbi’s football, but here we are. Hojbjerg has played almost every minute in Ligue 1 for Marseille, who started the season like a house on fire but have since suffered a blip with dropped points against Strasbourg and Angers.

Title talk was probably a bit premature, but Hojbjerg looks at home for a side that ought to have realistic ambitions of Champions League qualification.

Bryan Gil

It’s never quite happened for the Beatle-looking Spaniard at Tottenham, has it?

It’s increasingly looking as though Gil is more suited to one environment than another – a bit like Giovani Lo Celso, currently thriving at Real Betis – and is now onto his third loan back to his home country in as many years.

Following his stints at Valencia and Sevilla, the winger is now turning out for Girona. He notched in a 4-0 mauling of Osasuna back in August but has failed to score or assist in eight appearances since then, finding himself in and out of their starting XI.

Girona massively punched above their weight to finish in the top four last season, but a repeat looks altogether less likely after a summer exodus. The early indications are that replacements such as Gil aren’t quite at the level required to maintain that stupendous form.

Alejo Veliz

A £13million signing from Rosario Central last summer, Argentina youth international Veliz is still finding his feet in European football.

He never made it beyond the periphery of Postecoglou’s first-team squad and spent the latter half of last season struggling for opportunities at Sevilla.

But newly-promoted Espanyol appear more keen to give him a chance; he’s already notched over 500 more minutes so far this season than he mustered in his last loan.

It hasn’t been especially easy for the striker at a side that are battling in the lower reaches of the La Liga table, but he does at least boast a 96th-minute match-winner in a vital 2-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano.

READ NEXT: David Bentley: ‘My 10-year-old son has rekindled my love for football’

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every manager to take charge of Tottenham in the Premier League?

Dane Scarlett

Talked up as one to watch for a few years now, Scarlett’s still never made it beyond making the odd cameo for his boyhood club. He’s now onto his third loan in the Football League, now at Oxford United after the fringe role he played in Ipswich Town’s promotion last term (recalled in December due to a lack of playing time).

The 20-year-old forward may have similar frustrations this time around, with all five of his appearances in the Championship so far off the bench, and late on at that. He’s played just 57 minutes of football in the second tier at the time of writing.

Jamie Donley

A homegrown forward who made his debut in the madcap 3-3 draw with Manchester City last season, 19-year-old Donley – who has represented both Northern Ireland and England at Under-19 level – is now getting his first taste of regular(ish) senior football at League One side Leyton Orient.

He’s featured fairly prominently so far for Orient, with seven appearances (five starts) in the third tier. He’s yet to score or assist but has impressed manager Richie Wellens, albeit with some constructive criticism thrown in.

“On the ball, he has the world at his feet,” Wellens told The Athletic. “He can play at the top level if he wants to.

“But you look at the top teams now, as soon as they lose that ball, they sprint back. That is something Jamie needs in his game — the reaction as soon as the ball turns over, whether it is to go and press or slide back into shape. It is something over the next six to eight months, while he is with us, we will try to develop. If he gets that, he will be a real top player.”

Ashley Phillips

Another signing from last summer that was made with one eye on the future, Phillips joined shortly after his 18th birthday after catching the eye for Blackburn Rovers.

The England Under-20 centre-back spent his first six months developing his skills in Spurs’ youth ranks before going on to get more experience in the Championship for relegation-battling Plymouth Argyle. After helping the Pilgrims stay up in the end, he’s since joined Stoke City on a season-long loan.

Phillips, 19, has found game time harder to come by at the Bet365 Stadium. Two of his three appearances to date have been in the League Cup. Concussion protocol kept him sidelined for a short while but he’s yet to feature under the Potters’ new boss Narcis Pelach.

Manor Solomon

We’re sure Tottenham fans will be shocked to hear that Solomon has spent time on the treatment table since moving to Leeds United in the final days of the transfer window.

The Israeli winger has bolstered Daniel Farke’s promotion-chasing squad following the departures of key attackers Crysensio Summerville and Georginio Rutter.

His first two appearances for Leeds were something of a mixed bag. He did well to assist the opener in a 2-0 victory over Hull City on his debut but suffered a misfortune slip against Burnley, the mistake proving costly for the only goal in a 1-0 defeat at home to Burnley.

He’s remained sidelined over the recent international break but is expected back soon.

QUIZ: Can you name Tottenham’s top 30 goalscorers in the Premier League?

George Abbott

Islington-born right-back Abbott made his debut for his boyhood club in the last game before the Postecoglou era, the 4-1 victory away at Leeds that sent them down.

A second appearance was not forthcoming under Postecoglou last season but he continued his development by captaining Spurs’ Under-21s to the Premier League 2 title last term.

Now the 19-year-old is getting his first taste of regular men’s football in League Two with Notts County. He’s impressed so far, often featuring in midfield, and registered his first assist of the campaign in their recent 2-2 draw with Chesterfield.

Josh Keeley

Last season, the Republic of Ireland youth international featured regularly for Barnet in the second half of the campaign.

He’s now made the step up to League One, sharing a dressing room with his fellow Spurs youth prospect Donley at Leyton Orient. But the 21-year-old is currently a back-up and has thus far only featured in their 3-1 League Cup defeat at Brentford.

Alfie Devine

Like Scarlett, Devine is one of those names we’ve been aware of for a few years now. But so far he’s only played a couple of cup games for Spurs, prior to more experience in loans at Port Vale and Plymouth Argyle last season.

Now the attacking midfielder has made the slightly leftfield, eyebrow-raising move to Belgian outfit Westerlo. So far he’s featured in four of their 10 league matches as they sit respectably in sixth place in the Jupiler Pro League.

The pressure has heaped even further on Erik ten Hag following Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham.

Both Ten Hag and his opposite number Ange Postecoglou have been feeling the heat, with both clubs suffering a poor end to last season followed by iffy results at the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign.

But Spurs produced an authoritative display at Old Trafford and were well worth their early lead, courtesy of an exceptional assist from centre-back Micky van de Ven for Brennan Johnson.

The away side continued to dominate, squandering chances, before Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes was shown a red card for a reckless challenge on James Maddison.

“It is not as bad as I initially thought, but it sums up Man United first half which has been an absolute disgrace,” former Manchester United defender Gary Neville fumed from the Old Trafford commentary gantry following Fernandes’ first-half dismissal.

“It’s one of the worst performances I have seen under Ten Hag – and that is saying something. It is really bad.

“United have all the bodies back there, but they may as well be statues or mannequins It has been as bad as it gets – no urgency, no life in them.

“Tottenham are just cutting through at will. Manchester United in this first half-hour are really bad. The crowd aren’t engaged at all.”

Things didn’t get any better from there. Ten Hag responded to the red card with a couple of substitutions, bringing on Mason Mount and Casemiro for Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee, but they didn’t have the desired effect in stemming Spurs’ dominance.

The visitors doubled their lead early in the second half, with Johnson turning provider to tee up Dejan Kulusevski, while Timo Werner fluffed a couple of presentable one-on-ones to get on the scoresheet himself.

Manchester United actually responded fairly well to the second goal, themselves enjoying a period of dominance and creating a number of half-chances, before Dominic Solanke put the result beyond doubt by heading home a flicked-on corner.

Spurs then squandered further chances in the closing stages, leading Neville to assess it could have been six.

READ NEXT: Where are they now? Jose Mourinho’s Spurs XI that thrashed Man Utd 6-1 at Old Trafford

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Tottenham’s top 30 goalscorers in the Premier League?

Here are 10 unbelievable stats from Tottenham’s big win over Manchester United:

– This was Bruno Fernandes’ first-ever red card for Manchester United, in his 241st appearance for the club, and the first straight red of his career. His last sending off came in a 1-1 draw between Sporting Lisbon and Boavista back in September 2019.

– Micky van de Ven began his run in his own half, eventually making it to close to the byline before squaring it for Johnson to slot home. We don’t have any exact measurement of his distance run, but according to this chart from Opta it must have been at least 55 yards – based on the Old Trafford pitch’s length of 115 yards.

– Throughout the 90 minutes, Tottenham accumulated an xG of 4.67 according to Opta. That’s the highest xG that the Red Devils have ever faced at Old Trafford. It’s also the most xG Tottenham have ever had in a single Premier League game on record.

– To put that xG figure into further context, Tottenham have created a higher xG at Old Trafford this season than Man Utd have.

– Man Utd faced a higher xG against Tottenham than they did when they lost 7-0 to Liverpool in March 2023 (2.91 xG).

– Dejan Kulusevski created nine chances against United. That’s more than Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, Joshua Zirkzee, Kobbie Mainoo, Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui combined. It’s also the most chances that any Premier League player has completed in a single game this season.

– Tottenham created seven big chances against Ten Hag’s side – that’s the most ‘big chances’ that the Red Devils have conceded in any game in 2024-25.

– Ange Postecoglou’s side created the biggest xG of any Premier League away side since Manchester City beat Norwich City 4-0 back in February 2022.

– To rub salt into the wounds, United have now lost more Premier League matches by three or more goals since Alex Ferguson left the club (23 in 424 games) than they did in 1,035 league games under the Scotsman (22). It’s also the 23rd time that United have conceded three or more goals in Ten Hag’s tenure.

– Since Ten Hag was appointed at Old Trafford, the club have averaged 1.73 points per game. That’s the exact same record that Newcastle and Aston Villa have managed in that same time period. It’s also a far inferior record to the likes of Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool.

It’s only been four years since Tottenham went to Old Trafford and thrashed Manchester United 6-1, but only two players remain from their starting line-up that day, underlining the wholescale changes at the club since Jose Mourinho sat in the dugout.

Mourinho enjoyed his return to his former club, as Spurs kicked off the behind-closed-doors lockdown campaign in fine fettle. But Spurs’ big win was no signpost of how things would end up that season, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leading Manchester United to a runner-up placing while Mourinho was sacked before an eventual underwhelming seventh-place finish.

We’ve revisited Tottenham’s line-up that day and checked in on where they’re at today, four years on.

GK: Hugo Lloris

The former France captain left Tottenham after 11 years and almost 450 appearances last December, having fallen behind Guglielmo Vicario in the pecking order following the appointment of Ange Postecoglou.

“I needed something new, something different,” he explained on his decision to join MLS outfit LAFC.

“I had great moments in Europe. I was just looking for different opportunities, to experience a new continent, to experience a new life as well.”

The 37-year-old has been a near ever-present between the sticks for LAFC in the 2024 MLS campaign. They’re currently second in the Western Conference table, behind city rivals LA Galaxy, and are set to compete in the MLS Cup play-offs.

RB: Serge Aurier

The infamously erratic Ivorian has turned out for Villarreal and Nottingham Forest since leaving Tottenham in 2021.

Midway through last season he joined Galatasaray and played a fringe role in their Turkish Super Lig title victory, but he’s since departed the club and currently finds himself a free agent once again.

CB: Davinson Sanchez

At Galatasaray, Aurier briefly reunited the Colombia international, who was a regular starter in the Mourinho era at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Nowadays Sanchez finds himself as a direct adversary of his old boss, having remained at Galatasaray for a second season following his €9.5million move away from Spurs last summer.

CB: Eric Dier

Like Lloris, long-serving Dier fell out of favour in the early months of Postecoglou’s reign – his lack of pace making him ill-fitted to the Australian’s famously high line.

“Obviously, after the first six months of the season, to be playing in a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid is something I am very proud of,” Dier reflected.

“I always believed in myself and always believed I should be playing at this level and yes, I kept a bit of blind faith in the first six months of the season and I am proud of the way I carried myself in those six months and that is what has enabled me to be in this position now.”

The 30-year-old could legitimately consider himself unfortunate to miss out on England’s Euro 2024 squad, having been entrusted to play a key role under Thomas Tuchel. But he’s taken a step back to the periphery under new boss Vincent Kompany, making just two substitute appearances amounting to 30 minutes so far this season.

LB: Sergio Reguilon

It’s all too easy to forget that the Spanish left-back remains a Tottenham player following his series of iffy loans away to Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Brentford.

He’s yet to play a minute of football under Postecoglou, but he was named on the bench for Spurs’ recent League Cup victory over Coventry. A fourth loan away, or a permanent move, is surely on the cards for January.

READ NEXT: Where are they now? The 10 signings Jose Mourinho made as Tottenham boss

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Tottenham’s top 30 goalscorers in the Premier League?

DM: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg

Another one-time regular that had to stomach less of a guaranteed role under Postecoglou, experienced Dane Hojbjerg is currently out on loan at Marseille.

The Ligue 1 outfit have made a solid start to the 2024-25 campaign under new manager Roberto De Zerbi, unbeaten and up there at the top of the table alongside PSG and Monaco.

CM: Moussa Sissoko

Sissoko departed Tottenham when his contract expired at the end of the 2020-21 campaign. He joined newly-promoted Watford on a free transfer, signing a two-year deal, but left for Nantes following their relegation.

The 35-year-old is now back for a second stint at Vicarage Road, offering considerable experience in the heart of midfield for Tom Cleverley’s promotion-chasing Hornets.

CM: Tanguy Ndombele (Dele Alli, ’69)

Once Tottenham’s record signing, Ndombele never delivered on his big-money fee – but there was the occasional spark, such as his role in the mauling of Manchester United, that suggested he might just come good.

Unfortunately those box office days never occurred quite often enough and after five years and three loans away, Ndombele’s contract was terminated in the summer. He’s since returned to France, having signed a two-year deal with Nice.

It’s weird that he was ever substituted for Dele, with the two players’ time with Spurs feeling as though they belonged to distinctly different eras. The one-time fan favourite hasn’t had an easy time of it since his departure, having spoken candidly about his troubles with injury and addiction, but he’s revealed he’s ambitiously targeting a sensational England return for the 2026 World Cup.

After being released by Everton in the summer, Dele is currently searching for a new club. We’d love to see him come good and enjoy a renaissance.

FWR: Erik Lamela (Lucas Moura, ’46)

The Argentinian sh*thouse supremo spent three years with Sevilla, winning a customary Europa League while there, following his 2021 exit from Tottenham. Nowadays he’s at AEK Athens alongside Anthony Martial, who was sent off in the famous 6-1.

Lucas Moura made more appearances under Mourinho at Spurs than any other player, but found himself less favoured by subsequent coaches. He was released last summer and is now back at his hometown club, Sao Paolo, with whom he’s won a Brazilian Copa and Supercopa.

QUIZ: Can you name every manager to take charge of Tottenham in the Premier League?

ST: Harry Kane

Tottenham’s all-time top goalscorer’s agonising wait for silverware might be ongoing but he’s not doing too badly for himself since his club-record sale to Bayern Munich last year.

The England captain has notched 54 goals and 17 assists in just 52 appearances for the Bavarian giants, while last season he became the first Englishman to claim the European Golden Shoe since Kevin Phillips in 2000.

FWL: Son Heung-Min (Ben Davies, ’73)

Son scored two goals and assisted Kane for another in that 6-1 thrashing of Manchester United, one of his finest performances in a Tottenham shirt. He’s now approaching a decade of wonderful service to the club, having scored over 150 goals and played over 400 matches since he signed from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015.

His replacement that day is the only other player from that squad that remains something of a regular under Postecoglou, Davies is by no means a guaranteed starter but continues to provide usefulness as a squad player.

We’re just about getting to grips with the fact that FIFA 15 was released over a decade ago and we thought we’d check in on the eight Tottenham wonderkids from that game.

Coming right at the start of the Mauricio Pochettino era, Spurs had a couple of gems in their academy system that would soon become integral parts of the first-team.

Using the SoFIFA database, we’ve taken a closer look at Spurs’ eight wonderkids from FIFA 15 and have checked out what they are each up to in 2024.

Nabil Bentaleb

“I would be a hypocrite to say that I would not like to be there, and I am not a hypocrite,” Bentaleb told The Independent in February 2019, reflecting on his time at Tottenham. “But this is football.”

The Algeria international looked set to become an important squad member at Spurs, starting the 2015 League Cup final, but fell out with Mauricio Pochettino before being sold to Schalke in 2017.

Now 29, Bentlaeb is playing in Ligue 1 with Lille. That feels perfect for his level.

Eric Dier

After almost 10 years of service and well over 300 appearances, Dier departed Tottenham in January 2024 to take on a new challenge at Bayern Munich.

An initial loan spell was enough to convince Bayern to sign the defender permanently and Dier is now playing Champions League football while Spurs kick their heels in the Europa League.

Ben Davies

One of two players to join Spurs from Swansea in the summer of 2014, Davies arrived in a swap deal for Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. A highly-rated 21-year-old left-back, Davies remains at Spurs and has played over 330 games for the club.

The Wales international has come in for criticism at times, but, now 31, he is one of the more experienced members of the current squad and has overall been an excellent signing.

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Harry Kane

Disappeared into obscurity, sadly. Definitely didn’t become Spurs and England’s leading goalscorer before banging them in for Bayern Munich.

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every country Harry Kane has scored against for England?

Cristian Ceballos

Signed by Tottenham from Barcelona, Ceballos never made it onto the pitch for Spurs in a competitive game before being released to join Charlton Athletic.

The Spaniard only managed five league appearances for the Addicks and now plies his trade for Azerbaijani club Sabah.

DeAndre Yedlin

There was plenty of excitement when Spurs signed Yedlin after the right-back had shone for the USA at the 2014 World Cup, but he made just one Premier League appearance – in a defeat to Aston Villa – before being loaned out to Sunderland.

The defender then dropped down to the Championship to join Newcastle permanently with Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier ahead of him in the pecking order.

He’s now back in the MLS with FC Cincinnati after spells with Galatasaray and Inter Miami.

Alex Pritchard

In the summer of 2015, Pritchard was coming off the back of a superb season on loan at Brentford from Tottenham in which he was named in the Championship team of the year and voted the eighth best player in the division.

His future looked bright. Spurs looked to have a gem on their hands.

But the attacking midfielder has failed to kick on since, spending a miserable loan spell at West Brom before leaving Spurs permanently for Norwich City.

Spells at Huddersfield and Sunderland followed before Pritchard joined Birmingham City in January 2024, reuniting with Tony Mowbray and signing a two-and-a-half-year deal.

But his time at St. Andrew’s was as short-lived as his old gaffer’s, and following their relegation to League One he joined Sivasspor for an undisclosed fee.

Shaquile Coulthirst

Another striker prospect who never kicked a ball in anger for Tottenham’s first team, Coulthirst was sold to Peterborough in 2016 after several loan spells away from White Hart Lane.

The most prolific spell of his career came at Barnet, where Coulthirst scored 33 goals in three seasons. Aged 29, he’s playing in the National League South for Maidstone United.

Tottenham Hotspur have won less points than Bournemouth in the Premier League since the start of November 2023.

After a fast start under Ange Postecoglou, who won eight and drew two of his first 10 league matches after taking over in the summer of 2023, Spurs have suffered an alarming dip in form.

The descent began with a madcap 4-1 home defeat to Chelsea where Spurs had two players sent off, and three defeats in their next four matches followed.

Postecoglou’s side slowly slipped out of the top four and finished fifth in the final 2023-24 standings, earning them Europa League football.

Despite their back-to-front campaign, Spurs fans were hopeful at the start of Postecoglou’s second season at the helm but the team has won just one of their opening four matches as criticism begins to mount on the manager.

Asked about his side’s weaknesses in defending set-pieces after their 1-0 loss to Arsenal, the Australian boss said: “For some reason, people think I don’t care about set pieces.

“It’s a narrative that you can keep going for ages and ages. I understand that. We work on them all the time but we paid the price today. It’s my burden to carry and I’m happy to do that.

“For us the way forward is to try and turn the football we are ­playing into something meaningful.”

After investing heavily over the summer, Spurs fans will be expecting Postecoglou to improve the side’s form quickly, but a look at the Premier League table of the past 10-and-a-half months suggests that might be easier said than done.

Note: all teams have played 32 games unless otherwise specified. Only teams that played in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 Premier League seasons have been included.

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TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player to score just one Premier League goal for Tottenham?

Arsenal underlined their title credentials with a dogged 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby.

The Gunners went into the game without their injured captain Martin Odegaard and the suspended Declan Rice, causing many to question their chances of winning the game.

Mikel Arteta’s side also knew that dropped points would see them slip further behind Manchester City, who had won all of their opening four matches.

But Arsenal produced a committed display, limiting Spurs to a handful of half-chances while posing a threat of their own on the counter-attack.

After a goalless first half, the winner came from a well-executed set-piece. Bukayo Saka swung the ball into the six-yard box and Gabriel thumped his header past a helpless Guglielmo Vicario.

Arteta’s side saw out the game comfortably and move into second in the Premier League table. They will face City at the Etihad next Sunday.

As the away supporters begin their celebrations, we’ve picked out 11 stupendous stats from Arsenal’s latest victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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– This was Arsenal’s first Premier League without both Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice since the latter joined from West Ham in the summer of 2023.

– There were seven yellow cards in the first half of today’s derby, the joint-most cards ever shown in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League match.

– Saka has been directly involved in more Premier League goals vs. Tottenham (6) than any other side he has faced during his career.

– The England international has now scored or assisted 87 goals for Arsenal in the Premier League, one fewer than Mesut Ozil managed for the Gunners.

– No defender has scored more Premier League goals than Gabriel’s 15 since September 2020.

– And the Brazilian has become the fourth Arsenal player to score 10+ headed goals in the competition.

– Three of Arsenal’s last four Premier League goals against rivals Tottenham have been from corners – only three of their previous 88 north London derby league goals had been from corners before this.

– And Arsenal have now scored 22 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League since the start of last season. No team has scored more.

– Sterling became the first player to make his competitive debut for Arsenal in a north London derby since Isaiah Rankin in December 1997.

– Mikel Arteta has become the first Gunners’ boss to win three successive Premier League matches away at Tottenham.

– This is also the first time Arsenal have won three consecutive north London derbies at the home of their arch enemy since September 1988.

Tottenham have played in every season of the Premier League era – but can you name every player to captain the side in the competition?

What we want you to do here is name every player to have been appointed club captain – not those who just wore the armband a couple of times – since the English top-flight was rebranded in 1992.

You’ve got 15 minutes to get to name all nine. Full marks should be well within your grasp.

Once you’ve completed this quiz, have a go at naming Tottenham’s 25 most expensive sales in history.

If you enjoy our quizzes, head to our new Football Games home where you can search an archive of over 1,000 quizzes and play them all in beautiful full-screen mode.

Good luck, and don’t forget to tweet us your scores at @planetfutebol.