£4m per goal: Spurs must axe "frustrating" Conte flop as soon as possible

It would be fair to say that this season has been a particularly tough one for Tottenham Hotspur.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have been devastated by a seemingly endless stream of injuries to key players, but even then, the fact they are 12th in the Premier League and already out of the FA Cup and League Cup is particularly concerning.

That said, we’d hazard a guess that there is still a sizeable portion of the fanbase that would like to see the Australian given more time; as for all his faults, he has turned what was a turgid team to watch under former boss Antonio Conte, into one of the most exciting teams in the country.

Moreover, while the Italian was able to lead the club into the Champions League places, he didn’t look likely to end their hunt for silverware and was responsible for his fair share of dud signings, including one who is costing the team just over £4m-per-goal.

Conte’s worst Spurs signigs

So, before we get to the player in question, it’s worth looking at one of the other poor signings made under Conte’s tenure, a loan signing that couldn’t have gone much worse: Clement Lenglet.

The French centre-back joined the North Londoners on a season-long loan with an option to buy in July 2022, and while there was some excitement around the deal at the time, it didn’t take long to dissipate.

Described as “a complete & utter liability” by journalist Jonathan Johnson a year before his move, the former Sevilla star proved to be as much during his one-year stay in the capital, making 35 appearances across all competitions and 26 in the league, where the club conceded an astounding 63 goals, which looks like a total they won’t even hit this season with all their defensive injuries.

Fortunately, the option to buy was not exercised at the end of the campaign, and Lenglet was sent back to Barcelona to join Aston Villa for the following season, where he was only able to make 25 appearances.

However, while the club were luckily spared from spending millions on the dismal defender, the same cannot be said for Conte’s worst signing in North London.

The Conte signing costing Spurs millions per goal

When it comes to the very worst signing made by Conte during his time in the Spurs hot seat, there can only really be one answer.

In the summer of 2022, the North Londoners opted to spend £60m on Everton star Richarlison after a campaign in which he scored 11 goals and provided five assists in just 33 games.

Unfortunately for all involved, two and a half years later, there’s no other way to describe the transfer than as a disaster.

In all, the former Watford striker, who Ally McCoist described as “frustrating,” has scored just 18 goals and provided nine assists in 80 appearances, which can hardly be described as value for money considering his transfer fee.

Worse still, the Nova Venécia-born poacher earns £90k-per-week, meaning that, in the 137 weeks since he joined the club, the 27-year-old has made around £12.33m in wages, which brings his overall cost to the North Londoners up to an eye-watering £72.33m.

So, when we break that number down, it comes to £904k-per-appearances, just over £4m-per-goal, just over £8m-per-assist and about £2.67m-per-goal-involvement, which is a terrible return on the club’s investment.

Ultimately, Richarlison is a talented forward, but his time with Spurs cannot be described as anything other than a massive failure. Therefore, Postecoglou and the board need to get rid of him as soon as possible.

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