Top 5 Players Tottenham Hotspur Sold Too Soon

The summer 2015 transfer window saw Tottenham Hotspur make some productive sales. 

Players like Younes Kaboul and Aaron Lennon—loyal servants but long past their best—were among nearly £50 million worth of departures. 

Perhaps only Ismail Azzaoui, the 17-year-old who recently made his debut for Wolfsburg, appears likely to be a regrettable transfer for Spurs. 

In the past, though, the club has acted hastily in selling players before getting the best out of them. 

Chairman Daniel Levy has prided himself on an ability to extract maximum value from transfers, but even he has made a few missteps.

Spurs are occasionally forced to sell their biggest stars by a massive transfer offer or expiring contract, and these departures are not included here.

Don't expect to see Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Dimitar Berbatov or Michael Carrick on this list, even though every one of them would have continued to shine at White Hart Lane. 

Iago Falque

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Iago Falque's time at Tottenham was rather baffling. 

He played for both Real Madrid and Barcelona in his youth career and moved to England from Juventus for whom he never played a game. 

Evidently he possessed enough talent to convince three of the world's biggest clubs to give him a chance, but at Spurs—much like at his previous clubs—he never got an opportunity in the first team. 

In Falque's only start for Spurs, a League Cup defeat to Norwich City, he played well. He was wide on the right flank and proved a constant danger, despite failing to score. 

The Spaniard never got another opportunity and was sold to Genoa for €5 million (£3.5 million) where he flourished. He is now showcasing his talent at Roma. 

Spurs made a small profit on their odd dalliance with the diminutive winger, but one can't help wondering whether they should have worked harder to help him shine.

Jermain Defoe (the 2nd Time) and Peter Crouch (the 1st Time)

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Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch formed a little-and-large partnership for England and Portsmouth before being reunited at Tottenham in 2009. 

The pair could have spent five more years together at White Hart Lane if they hadn't both been sold in previous spells with the club. 

Crouch came through Spurs' academy with Ledley King, but the striker was sold to QPR in 2000 before ever getting a chance in the first team. 

A mere £60,000 prised the lanky forward away, but it took £10 million to bring him back nine years later. 

By that point, Crouch had shone for both England and Liverpool, underlining the costliness of selling him so quickly. 

He was sold again—this time to Stoke City—in 2011 after a short, but fruitful, spell with his boyhood club. 

Crouch has been maligned by some fans for a poor scoring rate, but it should always be remembered that it was his goal against Manchester City in 2010 that secured Champions League football for Tottenham. 

Crouch's occasional strike partner Defoe is a firm favourite at White Hart Lane, but his sale to Toronto in 2014 was seen by many as the right move. 

Admittedly, Defoe was struggling for form, but the Sunderland forward has since proved that his time is far from over.

How Spurs could do with the little livewire as an option to relieve Harry Kane from the bench.

Mounir El Hamdaoui

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Much like Iago Falque, Mounir El Hamdaoui's time at Tottenham is hard to parse. 

He scored 32 goals for Excelsior in the Eredivisie before his 21st birthday and came to England with high hopes. Unfortunately, he departed without making a senior appearance for Tottenham. 

Without ever having struck a ball in anger, it seems unfair to write El Hamdaoui off as not being up to the task in the Premier League. 

The Morocco international was no superstar, but Spurs were not in the position to reject able goalscorers in that period of their history.

After El Hamdaoui resumed his prolific scoring ways in the Netherlands, there were routinely rumours that he'd return to England.  

The AZ Alkmaar striker's time with Tottenham really seems like an opportunity missed.

Luke Young and Matthew Etherington

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With Spurs currently riding high in the Premier League table, it is easy to forget just how poor they were only a few years ago. 

A problem that plagued the club for years was an absence of naturally left-footed players, but it was an issue of Tottenham's own making. 

Way back in 2001, Spurs had the young, reliable duo of Luke Young and Matty Etherington on the left, but both were soon sold.

Both proved to be solid Premier League level players for over a decade after leaving White Hart Lane. 

Neither would have inspired Spurs to heights they have enjoyed in recent years, but keeping them around might have prevented some of the more egregious transfer missteps that the club made in the desperate hope of finding a player whose left foot was not simply decorative.

Pat Jennings

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Of all the player departures that have been willingly sanctioned in the history of Tottenham Hotspur, the release of iconic goalkeeper Pat Jennings must rank as the most regrettable. 

Winner of four trophies and, undoubtedly, the greatest goalkeeper in the club's proud history, Jennings was judged to have outlived his usefulness and was allowed to join Arsenal in 1977 after 13 years and nearly 600 appearances for Spurs. 

Unfortunately for Tottenham, Jennings was not finished as a professional footballer. 

Instead, he played out eight more seasons and won four trophies with Spurs' local rivals.

That he remains a beloved figure at White Hart Lane, despite spending nearly a decade at Highbury, indicates what a Spurs legend he is and only serves to reinforce what a blunder it was to allow him to leave the club.