Tottenham Hotspur have endured some highs and lows in the transfer market but the signings made Gareth Bale departed will live long in the memory.
Every club has some misfires in the transfer market; there is no exact science to signing players and even the top teams in the transfer market don’t get it right every time.
Tottenham Hotspur are no different and fans will be able to recall some real flops who donned the famous white shirt.
2013 was particularly notable though as Tottenham saw Gareth Bale leave for Real Madrid in a then-world-record deal.
Bale’s fee is now Tottenham’s second-biggest ever sale behind Harry Kane.
Tottenham had huge riches to play with but infamously splashed the cash on players who didn’t quite hit the mark.
Vlad Chiriches, Paulinho and Roberto Soldado didn’t live up to the billing and Nacer Chadli wasn’t a long-term impact player.
Soldado and Paulinho even made it on to our list of the worst Tottenham signings in the Daniel Levy era.
Ex-Tottenham Hotspur ace switches sport
Christian Eriksen was the biggest success from the seven signings whilst Erik Lamelo became a cult hero rather than the true Bale successor.
That leaves Etienne Capoue as the only one of the seven additions we haven’t touched on yet.
Spurs landed the French midfielder from Toulouse having been impressed with his displays in Ligue 1.
Capoue wasn’t an expensive signing but he still ended up being a disappointment with just 36 appearances to his name.
Mauricio Pochettino flogged Capoue to Watford in 2015 and his fairly underwhelming two-year stint at Tottenham came to an end.
The midfielder is now 36 and without a club and actually looks set to hang up his boots and focus on another sport.
Relevo report that Capoue has now signed for CB Jovens L’Eliana – a fourth-tier basketball team in Spain.
Based in Valencia, CB Jovens L’Eliana have decided to give Capoue a chance to live out his dream as a basketball player.
Capoue previously told Relevo that his dream was to become a basketball player rather than a footballer.
“My dream as a child was to play NBA basketball. Clearly. But brutal. That was my dream. But it’s still my dream, eh?” said Capoue just a year ago.
This has been in mind for Capoue but few really expected this to happen given his lengthy career in football.
Capoue can’t play official matches yet but has been training and is thought to have impressed, though L’Eliana don’t want to pressure him too much right now.
Where has Capoue been since leaving Tottenham?
Capoue was sold to Watford in 2015 and actually impressed at Vicarage Road.
The Frenchman racked up 181 appearances for the Hornets and dazzled as a goalscoring midfielder in the 2016-17 season, hitting seven goals in 37 games.
Capoue moved on in 2021, heading to Spain to join Villarreal under Unai Emery.
This was another positive more for Capoue, playing nearly 150 times for Villarreal whilst scoring 12 times.
Villarreal allowed Capoue to move on this summer and he departs having won a Europa League trophy with the club in 2021.
Capoue is now ready to say goodbye to football and hello to basketball as his career takes a rather unexpected twist.
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