Rating the 7 players Tottenham signed to replace Bale as Lamela departs
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Erik Lamela's Tottenham Hotspur departure has ensured there are no longer any of the Magnificent Seven' signings still at the club.
The Lilywhites responded to the loss of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in 2013 by recruiting seven new stars, funded by the £85million the club received for the Welsh winger.
Replacing Bale was always going to be a tough ask, but it certainly ended up being much more complicated than many had envisaged.
Lamela is the latest and last of the 'Magnificent Seven' to leave the north London club, but what happened to the other six?
Daily Star Sport have taken a look below and rated each player based on their contributions for the club…
Paulinho – 4
There was great excitement when Spurs announced the signing of Paulinho for £17million from Corinthians.
The Brazilian midfielder struggled to adapt to the demands of the Premier League, however, and was soon moved on.
Paulinho left the club in 2015 to join Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande before sealing a shock move to Barcelona in 2017.
He returned to Guangzhou Evergrande after one season in La Liga and scored an impressive 47 goals in 81 appearances in his second spell at the club.
Paulinho recently signed for Saudi side Al-Ahli.
Nacer Chadli – 7
A respected player by many Spurs supporters, Chadli is best remembered for his impressive 2014/15 campaign.
The Belgian midfielder was signed from FC Twente for £7million and arguably proved worth the investment.
Chadli spent three seasons at the club and scored 25 goals in 119 appearances.
The 31-year-old left Spurs for West Brom in 2016 and has since represented Monaco and Anderlecht.
He now plays for Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir.
Roberto Soldado – 2
Spurs' £26million deal to sign Roberto Soldado looked a real coup at the time.
The Spaniard got off to a promising start to his Tottenham career by scoring four goals in his first three matches, but that was as good as it got for Soldado.
He soon started to struggle to find the back of the net and managed a hugely disappointing total of seven goals in 52 Premier League appearances.
The 36-year-old has since had spells in La Liga with Villarreal and Granada and has recently signed for Levante.
Etienne Capoue – 4
Capoue's Tottenham career never really got going.
The French midfielder was signed from Toulouse and failed to live up to his expectations at White Hart Lane.
He made only 36 appearances across two seasons for the club before joining Watford in 2015.
Capoue became a key figure for the Hornets after moving and earned himself a move to Villarreal in December 2020.
Vlad Chiriches – 3
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A disastrous signing by Spurs.
The Romanian centre-back proved to be a major liability in the heart of defence and looked out of his depth from the very start.
Chiriches was part of the Tottenham defence that shipped five goals at home Manchester City in his debut season and he only stuck around for one further campaign.
He has spent his time in Serie A since leaving Spurs, previously playing for Napoli and now a Sassuolo player.
Erik Lamela – 6
How do you view Lamela's time at Tottenham? Comment below.
A player that will forever divide the opinion of Tottenham fans.
Lamela displayed moments of brilliance while playing for the club and is one of the few players who can claim to have scored two rabona goals for the same team.
But consistency was in short supply during his eight years in north London, preventing him from being recognised as a top class star.
The time is right for both the club and player to move on.
Christian Eriksen – 9
Quite comfortably the pick of the bunch. The Danish midfielder cost £11.5million and certainly proved value for money.
Christian Eriksen lit up the Premier League with his elegant style of play and deserved at least one trophy for his efforts while at the club.
He enjoyed a sensational campaign during the 2016/17 season by scoring 12 goals and registering 24 assists as Spurs missed out on the league title by seven points.
Eriksen moved to Inter Milan in January 2020 and won the Serie A title last season.
It remains to be seen whether he will be seen playing again following the cardiac arrest he suffered while representing Denmark at Euro 2020.
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