Spurs were washed by a £12 million dud who made as much as Kane

Tottenham’s centre-forward scored only twice in the Premier League.

Tottenham’s season has been full of twists and turns, but Ange Postecoglou’s side has a potential to finish strong in the Premier League in the coming weeks.

While it’s tempting to see the campaign through the lens of top four qualifying as the measure of success for a team like Tottenham Hotspur, Ange Postecoglou understands the long-term aims and how things aren’t always so straightforward – the Australian has spoken out on this topic in recent weeks.

Tottenham require time and must continue the good sequence of recruiting that has seen Postecoglou followed by first-team talents James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Brennan Johnson, and Guglielmo Vicario.

However, the throne at the head of the ship remains unoccupied, with Harry Kane yet to be replaced as the club’s premier centre-forward. Heung-min Son, now captain, has performed admirably in a more central role this season, but he is not the long-term option.

Who Spurs sign remains to be seen, but the club hasn’t gotten it right in the transfer market in recent years, with Kane’s arrival more than a decade ago alleviating concerns raised by failed attempts to recruit Roberto Soldado, Clinton N’Jie, and Vincent Janssen.

He’s not the bottom of the barrel, but rangy striker Fernando Llorente didn’t play his best game at Tottenham, despite an impressive Champions League contribution…

Why did Spurs sign Fernando Llorente?

Tottenham confirmed in 2017 that they have signed Llorente from Swansea City for £12 million, defeating London rivals Chelsea to the 32-year-old’s signature.

Llorente, now 39, retired this summer after a long, nomadic career that included winning the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship with Spain, the Europa League with Sevilla, and three Serie A titles with Juventus.

He came dangerously close to helping Tottenham win the Champions League, but more on that later.

Spurs signed the former Spain international after Kane struggled with injuries throughout the 2016/17 season, missing several games due to an ankle problem.

Furthermore, N’Jie and Janssen had both been moved on, and he provided a contrast to the frontline, serving as a target man figure for Christian Eriksen to whip balls into the danger area, having scored 15 Premier League goals with Swansea in his debut season in England.

Llorente may have achieved something of a cult reputation along N17 for that contribution, but there’s no doubt that, honestly, he didn’t produce the goods during his time at the club, especially given his Premier League success, or lack thereof.

Fernando Llorente’s statistics at Tottenham
Llorente scored 13 goals and gave six assists for Tottenham over two seasons, with only two of those goals coming in the Premier League.

Indeed, the 6 foot 4 titan only scored one goal in two Premier League seasons for Spurs, and while he played his role diligently, acting as a pillar around which forward play would frequently gravitate around and towards, his goal record was disappointing given his success with Swansea.

He did, of course, score the all-important final goal against Manchester City as the Lilywhites moved to the Champions League semi-finals in one of the most incredible ties in competition history, bundling in late at the Etihad Stadium to complete the victory.

It was a historic occasion, and while Llorente‘s goal will be remembered as one of the most famous and talked-about modern Champions League moments, it is insufficient to compensate for his poor domestic scoring record.

Especially because he was getting such a nice pay packet….

Fernando Llorente’s earnings at Tottenham
Llorente is said to have earned roughly £100k per week throughout his two-year tenure at Tottenham, for a total of little under £10 million, or £5 million each season.

When combined with the Spaniard’s pay, it is estimated that he cost Tottenham over £21.5 million over the course of his two contracts, equating to a contribution of approximately £1.6 million per goal.

Llorente‘s weekly earnings were comparable to those of Kane and captain Hugo Lloris, while he outperformed Son. During the same two seasons, the South Korean scored 29 goals. Kane? He scored 65 goals in all competitions.

While Llorente did a job and was considered for re-signing once his contract expired, the monetary breakdown above demonstrates why this would have been a disastrous decision.

After growing older and witnessing his success in London limited to specific occasions rather than fluid prosperity on an individual basis, it’s a good thing such interest was shelved and forgotten about.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been known to err on the side of caution, but Tottenham must go all out this summer to sign the perfect centre-forward to replace Kane and add a dimension to their attack that could propel them to the same level as Arsenal and Manchester City.

With Kane departing from the academy, Tottenham should get it right when it comes to signing a new focal forward.