Gareth Bale was arguably one of the best players to grace the lilywhite shirt of Tottenham Hotspur.
So when he left, fans were devastated. The club lost one of the best players in the squad.
Despite the sadness around his departure, the club received a substantial fee from Real Madrid. Madrid paid £85million (BBC) for the star Welshman – a record outgoing transfer for Spurs.
It was clear that Spurs would need to splash their newfound cash on a replacement. It was always going to be difficult replacing a player of Bale’s quality. The club used the money to fund the transfers of seven players in the following years.
They would become known as The Bale Seven.
Out of the seven that were purchased, just two remain. Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela are the only two that have continued their tenure at the club, whilst for the others their career in north London didn’t eventuate to the same extent.
We look at the other five players that were purchased with the Bale money, and see where they are now.
Etienne Capoue
The now 31-year-old defensive midfielder struggled to prove his quality at Spurs. He was purchased for £9.4million (Guardian) and eventually sold for just £6.3million (Guardian).
He spent two seasons at White Hart Lane making just 24 appearances.
Where is he now?
Capoue was sold to Watford after his tenure at Spurs and still remains at Vicarage Road to this day.
The Frenchman has made over 100 appearances for Watford since his arrival (transfermarkt).
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