Spurs signed Wilson Palacios - a Honduran international battling midfield enforcer - from then Premier League rivals Wigan Athletic, for a fee of £12 million in 2009. He'd only been at Wigan for one season and had previously played for Olimpio in his home country a spell that did include a brief loan to Birmingham City on the recommendation of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger during which time he had impressed enough with his combative approach to games for Spurs to pay twelve times what Wigan had just twelve months prior. His time at Spurs started off with promise Palacios got an assist in his first match against Bolton Wanderers and was given the Man of the Match award in his second match against Spurs' bitter North London rivals Arsenal but he struggled to hold down his place in the team and he was limited to 21 appearances in his second and final season at the club. Palacios has since joined another Premier League side, Stoke City, for a fee of around £6 million, giving Spurs a 50% loss on a player they had bought just two years earlier and, at 27 at the time, a player who should have been reaching his prime.
