The Argentine connection at Tottenham Hotspur is a strong one. Perhaps the most notable Argentine at the club currently is manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Pochettino has arguably transformed the club in his time at the club. Before his arrival, Spurs had continually failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League apart from their appearance in the 2010/11 season.
Failure to qualify for Europe’s elite competition was accompanied by a lack of stability in terms of managers. However, this is not the case anymore, with Pochettino entering his sixth year in North London.
Pochettino isn’t the only Argentine to have a substantial impact on the club. Not a lot of Argentine’s have played for the club, but the few that have made an impact worthy enough to feature on this list.
And if the rumours are true, there could be one other Argentine on his way shortly.
Giovani Lo Celso’s transfer to Tottenham is reportedly ’80 percent” complete according to Estadio Deportivo.
With the potential arrival of Lo Celso, we look at the top five Argentines who have played for Spurs.
Ricardo ‘Ricky’ Villa & Osvaldo “Ossie” Ardiles
It wouldn’t be an article discussing Argentine footballers without a mention of Ricky Villa and Ossie Ardiles.
Keith Burkinshaw captured the signatures of Villa and Ardiles in 1978. It came after the pair won the World Cup with Argentina in the same summer.
Ricky Villa, who played in midfield, made 133 appearances for the club scoring 18 goals.
Ardilles, a midfielder just like Villa, made 221 appearances with 16 goals.
In 1982, Ardilles was loaned out to Paris Saint-Germain after tensions escalated between Argentina and England during the Falklands War.
He would return to Spurs following a single season in France, before ending his tenure at White Hart Lane in 1988.
Both Ricky and Ossie were part of Tottenham’s 1981 FA Cup victory against Manchester City.
Ricky had left the club in 1982, and missed out on Spurs triumph in the UEFA Cup in 1984, which Ardiles played a role in.
Ardiles became manager of Tottenham in 1993, but only lasted the single season.
On February 7th 2008, Ardiles and Villa were together inducted into the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame, cementing their place as Spurs legends.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
