Japanese midfielder Kazuyuki Toda made his way to White Hart Lane in 2003, very much in his prime, aged 26 with seven years and 211 appearances at Shimizu S-Pulse under his belt. Though something of a gamble - or at least an unknown quality - thanks to the level of his league, he looked like a solid addition, and came with a strong evaluation. In his final season with the Japanese club, Toda's abilities were fully rewarded as he finally broke into the Japan national team, notching 20 caps, but a move to the Premier League, while inviting and prosperous, proved to be the key point in his downfall as he could only manage four appearances for Spurs. Toda made a quick exit after just one season and those four appearances and hoped to rebuild his career in the Eredivisie with ADO Den Haag, but just months later he found himself back in Japan with Shimizu S-Pulse. Toda strung together 166 appearances for a further seven clubs before he retired in 2013, but Tottenham will always be the skeleton in his closet.
Connor is a Sports Journalism student at Staffordshire University. He is an accredited MMA journalist, covering events such as BAMMA. He also writes for KingdomMMA.co.uk and he presents a radio show for One Media Group called Sports Talk Live.
