Tottenham Hotspur Power Ranking: Top 7 Signings in Premiership History

After some mixed reactions from fans following the summer's transfer activity at Spurs, most fans would have loved to have seen some major additions to the squad. The chase for Champions' League football seems a long way off after only two significant arrivals—one a loan and one from a Championship club.

So what kind of player should Spurs have been looking for? Here are some blasts from the past for Spurs fans wishing to reminisce about the times Spurs knew how to go out and buy a player. Before anyone cries "Ricky Villa!", this is a Premiership Era-only list.

Teddy Sheringham: 277 Appearances, 124 Goals

We'll start with an early one. SuperTed played just three Premier League games for Nottingham Forest (scoring one goal) before joining Spurs in August 1992. 21 Spurs goals later, and Sheringham was the Premier League Golden Boot winner.

He scored 20 or more goals in a season for Spurs twice more in his career, winning the club's player of the year award in 1995. He went on to forge the legendary SAS strike partnership for England with Alan Shearer in the process.

My fondest memories? The equalising goal against Liverpool at Anfield in the FA Cup quarter-final, and (sorry Teddy) missing a penalty on his return to White Hart Lane in a Manchester United shirt.

All was forgiven when he re-signed for the club in 2001, when he captained the club and managed 13 goals in both of his final two seasons at the Lane.

Jurgen Klinsmann: 65 Appearances, 39 Goals

The first rule of slide-show journalism? Always show the subject clearly and centrally.

The second rule? Ignore rule No. 1 if it's easily the most significant and hilarious moment in the subject's career!

Klinsmann signed for the club following the 1994 World Cup to a mixed media and fan reaction. Still not completely forgiven for his antics and contribution to England's downfall in the World Cup held in Italy four years earlier, the German won over fans and media alike instantly with his diving goal celebration on his debut at Hillsborough.

He formed part of a devastating attacking formation for Tottenham, alongside Teddy Sheringham, Nicky Barmby, Darren Anderton and Ilie Dumitrescu.

He went on to score 30 goals in his first and only full-season in English football, winning the Football Writers' Player of the Year award for his efforts.

His greatest moment came when he scored the last-minute winner in the FA Cup quarter-final at Anfield. It was only a shame that he couldn't muster a repeat performance in the semi-final.

After departing home for Germany, Klinsmann returned to Spurs midway through the 1997-98 season, scoring nine goals to stave off the club's relegation fears—including four goals in a 6-2 thrashing of Wimbledon.

David Ginola: 124 Appearances, 22 Goals

Signed in a double-deal alongside Les Ferdinand from Newcastle in 1997, everyone's favourite Frenchman entertained the Lane faithful during the otherwise un-Tottenham George Graham era.

With his dazzling step-overs and dizzying shimmies, Ginola almost single-handedly carried the Spurs team through three seasons of under-achievement, culminating in the double Player of the Year award given to him for his efforts in the 1998-99 season.

He was the first and only Spurs player to achieve this feat, which was even more remarkable when one considers that he played on a largely average team, and that his own manager didn't even like him!

My favourite moment has to be the stunning solo effort he scored against Barnsley in an FA Cup quarter final in 1999. Pure genius.

Robbie Keane: 293 Appearances, 121 Goals

Robbie Keane had an up-and-down career wherever he went, but nowhere more so than at Tottenham. Brought to White Hart Lane for the first time by Glenn Hoddle in 2002, Keane, in partnership with Dimitar Berbatov, played a significant role in Tottenham's transition from mid-table under-achievers to consistent performers in the top six of the Premiership.

He spent his first few season in and out of the team, competing for his place at one time or another with Freddie Kanoute, Jermain Defoe and Mido. Eventually, after striking up his partnership with Berbatov, Keane shone brightest of all between 2006 and 2008. During this time he scored over 20 goals in consecutive seasons, lifted the League Cup and won his third Tottenham Player of the Year award.

The greatest memory I have of Robbie Keane has to be his somewhat questionably emotional reaction to winning the League Cup in 2008 in his embrace with Berbatov. This just tops the oft-repeated cartwheel and forward-roll celebration—it must be the worst goal celebration ever. In fact, it's so bad that it's cool.

His return to the club following an unsuccessful move to Liverpool was somewhat less glorious, but Spurs fans everywhere will remember him best for his first spell—one in which he became the only player in Spurs history whose goal tally reached double figures six seasons in a row.

Jermain Defoe: 264 Appearances, 103 Goals

The first player on this list to still be at the club, Defoe's first spell at White Hart Lane began with a debut goal against Portsmouth in a 4-3 victory in January 2004. He followed that by scoring 22 goals for the club in his first full season.

Easily his greatest moment in a Spurs shirt came during his second, and current, spell at Tottenham. In November 2009, Defoe scored five goals in a 9-1 thrashing of Wigan Athletic, becoming only the third player in Premiership history to score five goals in a game.

However, more significant than that were the other 19 goals he scored during the 2009-10 season, contributing significantly to Tottenham's first ever fourth-placed Premiership finish. His goal in the first leg of the Champions' League playoff against Young Boys in Switzerland at the beginning of the following season helped consolidate the achievement by securing a position in Europe's premier competition's group phase.

Forever a fan favourite, Defoe will be hoping to strike up a partnership with new arrival Emmanuel Adebayor to try and repeat the trick and fire Spurs back into the upper echelons of European football.

Dimitar Berbatov: 102 Appearances, 46 Goals

Where to begin? The Bulgarian's time at the club was never dull. He scored 23 goals in both of his two seasons at the club, and made a number of significant contributions to Tottenham's growth as a Premier League force.

In partnership with Robbie Keane, Berbatov devastated Premiership defences with his subtle touches and clinical finishes, most notably in a spectacular hat-trick in victory against Reading, and, albeit less spectacularly, keeping his cool to stroke home the equalising penalty in the 2008 League Cup final.

He made the Premier League Team of the Year in his debut season, but arguably his most significant contribution to Tottenham was his protracted sale to Manchester United. The £30 million transfer fee allowed Spurs to re-invest heavily in the squad, resulting in a successful charge into the Champions' League.

He is not remembered as fondly by Spurs fans as some of the men on this list, but his time at the club was unquestionably successful. And this Spurs fan still has a place in his heart for the moodiest Premiership player of the 21st century.

Gareth Bale: 120 Appearances, 18 Goals

Easily the most exciting young player Spurs have had in the Premiership era, Gareth Bale has lit up White Hart Lane (and a few other places) since establishing himself in the team in January 2010. It has been a mesmeric 18 months since, and it only goes to highlight how much more he can achieve that he is on this list following such a short spell as a fully-fledged Tottenham player.

There's not a lot to write about the Welshman that hasn't already been written, but it does this article an injustice not to mention it all again here. He truly burst onto the scene by scoring winning goals in consecutive games in April 2010 against Arsenal and Chelsea, contributing massively to Tottenham's fourth-place finish that season.

The subsequent Champions' League run was when he really showed what he could do though. His hat-trick in defeat against Internazionale in the San Siro, when just about every other spurs player was dead on his feet, was an amazing feat of individual fitness, speed and skill. He followed that with a once-in-a-lifetime performance in the return match at White Hart Lane, in which he ran rings around the man then considered to be the best right-back in world football during the 3-1 victory.

Despite all these achievements, my personal favourite memory of Bale in a Spurs shirt has to be his volleyed goal against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium in August 2010. This boy really can do anything, and long may he continue to do it in a Tottenham shirt.