After Daniel Levy handed André Villas-Boas his first signing with the £8m addition of Gylfi Sigurdsson from Hoffenheim, the next arrival would be an incredible one.
The former Porto and Chelsea boss’ second signing as Tottenham manager would be the £9.5m capture of Jan Vertonghen from Ajax, who would help add quality at centre-back following the departures of Ledley King and Ryan Nelsen that summer.
The Belgium international had just netted ten goals in 42 appearances for Ajax in the campaign before his move to north London, and while Vertonghen hasn’t quite kept up that goal-to-game ratio at Spurs, he has since proven that Levy and Villas-Boas found a gem.
Impressively, the 32-year-old has made a whopping 311 appearances for Tottenham across almost a decade at the club. Divide his £9.5m transfer fee by that number, and you’ll discover that Vertonghen has only cost Levy £30.5k per appearance – making him remarkable value for money.
Using the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, you’d discover that Vertonghen’s fee from 2012 would be worth £11,302,579.37 in today’s money – even that slighter higher sum would’ve been a bargain for a player of his talent.
In that time, the Belgian has scored 14 goals and registered seven assists, while also helping Spurs reach the Champions League final and qualify for the tournament on a regular basis.
He has twice made the PFA Premier League Team of the Year as well, being voted into the star-studded XI following his efforts in the 2012/13 campaign and also the 2017/18 season.
The centre-back – who can also play at left-back – is still going strong for Spurs to this day, making 19 appearances in the Premier League this season.
Money talks: How much did Levy pay for each of these Spurs stars?
He has been a wonderful servant to the club since arriving for such a low fee, proving to be worth every penny and also a fabulous addition by Villas-Boas – arguably the best of the Portuguese’s reign.
In other news, this 2008 capture was a visionary signing by Juande Ramos…