Tottenham’s 2-1 loss to Chelsea on Tuesday put Spurs’ lack of attacking firepower on centre stage, with dreadful PSG loanee Randal Kolo Muani in the lead role. But does Kolo Muani earn a place amongst the worst Tottenham loans of all time?
Tottenham heading into the final day of the season with relegation still on the cards is not how anyone would’ve imagined this season to go, but it is perhaps not entirely surprising given multiple season-ending injuries that various players around the Spurs camp have suffered either this season or last.
As is the case when a club feels short on squad options but does not want to commit to long-term purchases, Tottenham Hotspur decided that Randal Kolo Muani would be a suitable replacement to shore up the attacking ranks, missing James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.
With 29 Premier League games played and only one goal scored for the club, Randal Kolo Muani is without a doubt a disappointing loan, but can he be counted amongst the worst loans in Spurs’ history?
Here are our nominations…
Tottenham’s worst loan signings of all time
5. Alan Pardew from Charlton, 1995
Alan Pardew’s loan move from Charlton Athletic in 1995 is one of the more humorous ones in the history of football in general.
Pardew arrived at White Hart Lane, nearing his 34th birthday and leaving behind his time at Charlton.
He was originally approached by Tottenham for the express purpose of appearing in the much-maligned UEFA Intertoto Cup, a summer international club competition that clubs often viewed as surplus to requirements in an already busy calendar.
That was the case for Tottenham Hotspur, who chose to disregard the competition and, instead of sending their stars like Gary Mabbutt or Teddy Sheringham, decided to field a team of youngsters or players signed only for the purpose of appearing in the competition.
Pardew wrote his name in the history books as one of the players on the field in Spurs’ all-time heaviest defeat, an 8-0 thrashing to FC Köln, who took the competition incredibly seriously and fielded their best players.
Pardew left Tottenham after the Intertoto Cup and joined then League Three FC Barnett, where he played for another two seasons.
4. Toda Kazuyuki from Shimizu S-Pulse, 2003
The name of Toda Kazuyuki gained a bit more traction recently when Tottenham signed his compatriot Kota Takai from J-League side Kawasaki Frontale. Kazuyuki was actually Tottenham Hotspur’s first-ever Japanese player and arrived on a loan from the J-League in January 2003.
Kazuyuki, however, only made 4 appearances in half a season under Glen Hoddle and failed to make any lasting impression in what was a below-average Tottenham season, moving on to ADO Den Haag in the Eredivisie.
The most cynical of fans remember the signing of Toda as a cynical attempt to grow the club’s brand in Japan, but the defensive midfielder admitted to retaining a soft spot for the North London Club.
3. Timo Werner to Tottenham from RB Leipzig, 2024/2025
Timo Werner’s inclusion this high up on the list simply must come with a gigantic caveat that this takes his two consequent loan spells between the 23/24 and 24/25 seasons as completely separate.
Because Werner’s original 6-month spell from January 2024 was actually completely adequate and the German winger played an important off-the-bench role for Ange Postecoglou, ending the season with 6 goal involvements over 800 minutes played.
But when the club, heartened by Werner’s solid season, decided to extend the loan for the 24/25 season, his form dropped off a cliff. The German struggled with performances and injuries and was known for his horrendous finishing record.
The forward did play a minor role in Spurs’ memorable Europa League campaign that year, making appearances in their group stage games but after his poor performances, Werner wasn’t selected for their knockout stages squad.
2. Gedson Fernandes from SL Benfica, 2019/2020
The loan of Gedson Fernandes from Benfica is one of the more puzzling moves we’ve witnessed. Coming in as the first signing for Jose Mourinho, Fernandes was meant to be fresh blood and the first step in the painful rebuild that Mauricio Pochettino talked about.
But only 6 months later, Benfica was recalling Fernandes, a year earlier than the 18 months agreed in the loan deal (for which Spurs had to pay a hefty loan fee).
The loan move ended up being incredibly damaging for both Spurs and the young player’s career. Fernandes was used almost exclusively as a substitute player by Jose Mourinho. And while Fernandes showed flashes of talent and always came off the bench to work his socks off, it would be a tough ask to call any of his performances in Lilywhite as necessarily positive.
Fernandes ended up never adjusting to the pace and physicality of the Premier League and lacked the technical qualities to make up for what he lacked in athleticism. Benfica ended up recalling Fernandes, who actually managed to have a fairly successful spell with the Turkish Besiktas after leaving Spurs.
1. Randal Kolo Muani from PSG, 2025/2026
Yes. In our opinion, Randal Kolo Muani is the worst loan in Tottenham Hotspur’s history.
While other loans on this list may have also had very little impact, suffered from terrible form, couldn’t finish, defend, or dribble, even if their life depended on it.
But, in a functional club, a manager’s solution to a bad player is often to just not give them minutes. And the one thing that separates Muani from the other names is just how much he played this season.
Of course, to an extent, the Tottenham managers this season had their hands forced by an unprecedented injury crisis. But Kolo Muani, being the second most played Tottenham attacking player, after Xavi Simons, is also down to Thomas Frank and his baffling decision to exile Mathys Tel from the squad for the sake of Muani.
And surprisingly, Kolo Muani arrived at Tottenham with a lot of hype behind him. He was one of the biggest prospects in European football and left Eintracht Frankfurt for PSG for a whopping 95 million euros.
Yet since his arrival, Randal Kolo Muani has put in poor performance after poor performance, and he brought neither goals, composure, dribbling, nor even a bit of fight from his parent club. The 1600 minutes Kolo Muani played in the Premier League this year have resulted in one goal and one assist.
There’s every chance that recency bias does factor in our judgment of the player, and if Muani scores a stunner that guarantees Premier League survival in the 90th minute of the Everton game, likely all will be forgiven.
But until then, the completely paradoxical relationship between how much time on the pitch he deserved and how much actually got, will remain as his legacy at Tottenham.