Tottenham Hotspur have bought some fantastic players over the years: Gary Lineker, Paul Gascoigne, Jurgen Klinsmann, David Ginola, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Christian Eriksen to name but a few. Generally, buying big names or players with a lot of potential builds up a lot of excitement amongst the clubs' fans, as they tend to have very high expectations of their players - but it doesn't always work out as well as expected with these supposedly great signings, for one reason or another. Spurs' handling of their players hasn't always been great. Whether they have played them in systems that don't suit them, whether it's because they leave them out in the cold, or inadvertently cause their players to suffer injuries, a large number of top players' treatment at the club has ended up being far from beneficial for said players. In this article, we're going to take a look at a selection of players whose career at Spurs was ruined in one way or another. Having arrived at the club with a reputation, or having been great at the club for some time, these players deteriorated at the club either in terms of their performances or their condition. Here are ten great players who were ruined by Spurs...
10. Pascal Chimbonda
Having arrived in English football with Wigan Athletic as a relative unknown from Bastia, Pascal Chimbonda quickly became a Premier League revelation. In his one season at the club, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year for the 200506 season, having been voted as best right back in the Premiership, had earned his first French cap and had been named in the France World Cup squad of 2006. However, when Spurs signed him - a deal that excited Spurs' fans - it all started to go gradually downhill for Chimbonda. He spent two years at the club, making 65 league appearances, which was all well and good. He then moved to Sunderland before Harry Redknapp brought him back to Spurs and his career has been one of the most bizarrely terrible ever since. Spurs sold him to Blackburn after he had made just three more appearances for the club. After two seasons at Ewood Park, he joined Queens Park Rangers. He barely played at Loftus Road and ended up signing a short-term deal with Doncaster Rovers and was unable to even cement a first-team place at the Keepmoat Stadium and he was released spending the entire 2012-2013 season as a free agent. So desperate was Chimbonda for football that he signed for Northern Premier League Division One South side Market Drayton Town on a short term deal. After failing to impress on a trial with Tranmere Rovers, he returned to Market Drayton and played for them for free before signing for Carlisle United in Englands third tier. He has recently signed for Oikonomos in Greek football's third tier, but is yet to play for the club.
