Tottenham record transfer sales: Top 5 most expensive players to leave Spurs after Harry Kane deal

Brad Cox

Tottenham record transfer sales: Top 5 most expensive players to leave Spurs after Harry Kane deal image

Harry Kane has said goodbye to Tottenham Hotspur in a mammoth deal, leaving to join reigning German champions Bayern Munich. 

The all-time leading Spurs goalscorer has been linked with a move away from north London in almost every transfer window for the past few seasons. 

It once looked as though he would leave for Manchester City, but that was before they signed Erling Haaland, leaving avenues in England limited now. 

Kane is currently 47 Premier League goals behind Alan Shearer's record of 260 but it appears as though he has prioritised silverware. He is still yet to win a major trophy in his career, despite playing regularly in the top flight of English football for nearly a decade. 

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is known for holding out for a large sum for players and has got another big windfall here. The Sporting News take a look at their most expensive sales. 

MORE: Why is Harry Kane going to Bayern Munich?

5. Luka Modric

£30 million to Real Madrid in 2012

At the age of 26, the Croatian midfielder made the move from London to Madrid and the rest is history. Modric went on to win everything there is to win and even led his national team to the 2018 World Cup final, where Croatia were eventually beaten by France. 

He also played an integral part in the Real Madrid squad that won three Champions League titles in a row under Zinedine Zidane.

4. Dimitar Berbatov

£30.75 million to Manchester United in 2008

A true deadline-day saga, Dimitar Berbatov signed for Manchester United in the final hours of the 2008 summer transfer window. Manchester City reportedly tried to swoop for the striker late on, but Berbatov had his mind set on the red half of Manchester. 

Berbatov then went on to become a fan-favourite at United in a side that had just won the Champions League. The Bulgarian striker's most memorable match came against Liverpool in 2010 when he scored a hat-trick in a 3-2 victory.

3. Kyle Walker

£53 million to Manchester City in 2017

One of the best right-backs in the world in recent years also made a big-money move away from Tottenham. Kyle Walker completed his switch to Man City back in the summer of 2017 and his electrifying pace was a massive factor in making him the second-most expensive Englishman at the time, after Raheem Sterling. 

Walker was essential to the treble-winning side in 2023 and, like Modric, has won everything there is to win at the top level of English football. He was rumoured to be leaving the club, after winning the treble, to Bayern but fresh reports have stated he will stay in Manchester.

2. Gareth Bale

£85.1 million to Real Madrid in 2013

Finally, we reach the ultimate Spurs sale. Gareth Bale departed in 2013 to become the most expensive player in the world, taking the title off his new teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. Bale's 2012/13 season saw him score 26 goals and provide 14 assists from the left flank. That was all Madrid needed to see to slam £85 million on the table. 

Like Modric and Walker, the forward went on to win everything available to him at Madrid, scoring in both the Champions League and Copa Del Rey finals, and also became a Wales hero in the 2016 European Championship. He took control of that side and led them to their best-ever finish as they placed third.

1. Harry Kane

£86.4 million to Bayern Munich in 2023

Harry Kane's Spurs career has been simply sensational, establishing himself among the legends of the club. Joining Spurs at the age of just 11 after a spell in the Arsenal academy, Kane went on to make 435 appearances for the first-team. 

He broke Jimmy Greaves' record of 267 to become Spurs' all-time top scorer, eventually racking up 280 goals. The strike to equal Greaves came in a 1-0 win over Man City, with Kane having a knack of scoring in the big games. The England captain also holds the record of the most North London Derby goals, with 11.

What did Spurs do with the Gareth Bale money?

Gareth Bale of Real Madrid
Getty Images

Replacing one of the world's best players at the time was never going to be easy, even with £85 million to splash, but the way in which Spurs spent that cash has been questioned ever since.

Instead of looking to buy a single player to succeed the Welshman, Tottenham invested the cash into seven, with all but Christian Eriksen underwhelming. 

Player Price Team
Nacer Chadli £6 million FC Twente
Vlad Chiriches £8.5 million Steaua Bucharest
Etienne Capoue £8.6 million Toulouse
Christian Eriksen £11.5 million Ajax
Paulinho £17 million Corinthians
Roberto Soldado £26 million Valencia
Erik Lamela £30 million Roma

Premier League 2023/24 TV channels, live streams

Region TV Streaming
Australia Optus Sport
Canada

Fubo Canada

Hong Kong Now TV
India Star Sports Disney+, Hotstar,
JioTV
Malaysia Astro SuperSport Astro Go
New Zealand Sky Sport Sky Sport Now,
Sky Go
Singapore StarHub StarHub TV+
UK Sky Sports, TNT Sports NOW TV, Sky Go,
Amazon Prime
USA USA Network,
Telemundo, Universo
Fubo, Peacock

UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and TNT Sports streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.

USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on Fubo. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.

Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streamed exclusively via Fubo in Canada.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.

India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. As well as an English broadcast on Star Sports Select, select matches will be available via regional feeds on Star Sports 3 (in Bengali, English, Kannada, Malayalam), Star Sports 1 (Bangla) and Star Sports 1 (Tamil).

Brad Cox

Brad Cox Photo

Brad is a content producer for The Sporting News and has previously worked for the likes of Squawka and The Athletic. His career highlight to date is reporting from the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final in Paris.