Tottenham: Berbatov, Keane or Defoe? You decide!

Harry Redknapp has been brought in to steady what was a sinking ship under Juande Ramos.  And the main faultline in the Spurs squad is the lack of established goalscorers.  Roman  Pavlyuchenko has started to score goals, but remains unconvincing, Darren Bent's early season form has deserted him and Fraizer Campbell looks a decent option from the bench - but little more right now.  But just a year ago Spurs could boast a fantastic set of strikers, Bent was clearly the junior partner with Jermain Defoe - behind an established pairing of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov.  But a front four assembled for around £50m was then disbanded, amidst much complaint Spurs sold Defoe to Portsmouth for £7.5m, Keane to Liverpool for £20.3m and Berbatov to Manchester United for £30.8m.

But if it is possible to turn the clock back twelve months, who has Tottenham most regretted selling? 

Jermain Defoe
Portsmouth's number 14 could be on his way back to Spurs after a convenient bout of flu has kept his from becoming cup-tied or injured ahead of the window.  His departure was shrugged off by many Spurs fans who were dazzled by the Keane-Berbatov combination; but should his sale have happened with any hindsight?  Defoe was bought by Tottenham for £7m in 2004 and then sold for £7.5m four years later, but his goalscoring record perhaps justifies more.  His career average for games started is just about 1 goal in 2, but too many managers have decided that Defoe is a difficulty in a strike pairing, meaning that 40% of his career appearances have come from the bench - dragging his overall average down to 1 goal in 3 games.  His selflessness has improved of late and perhaps Redknapp can get more from him.

Robbie Keane
Originally bought for £7m from a Leeds side that was running out of money in 2002, Keane arrived with a reputation for scoring spectacular goals (but altogether too few) and moving clubs very quickly for big money.  Coventry paid £6m for Keane in 1999, Inter Milan raised £13m for him in 2000 but lost interest by Christmas after just six games and loaned him to Leeds who blew £12m on him in 2001.  Spurs cash meant that four clubs had paid £38m on Keane in barely three years.  That Keane went on to be the longest serving senior player at the club and club captain by the final season showed that Spurs was his natural home.  His departure for Liverpool dismayed many fans, and the Irishman's form has subsequently deserted him.  Throughout his career Keane has been a 1 goal in 3 games man, but at Tottenham he went closest to 1 in 2, scoring 80 in 197 games.  A great foil for Berbatov.  Best Irish striker ever, with 35 goals in 85 games.

Dimitar Berbatov
Originally bought for £10.9m from Bayer Leverkusen in 2006, the elegant Bulgar spent two seasons with Tottenham scoring 27 league goals in 70 games.  His rancorous departure, albeit for a huge transfer fee that was hours away from being a British record, disgusted many Spurs fans upset at the behaviour of Berbatov in agitating for a transfer and at Manchester United for making its desire to sign the player public.  A tall, elegant player Berbatov has a fantastic international record of 28 goals in 47 games; perhaps suggesting that he prefers the big games more than the bread and butter - but his partnership with Robbie Keane was the best at Tottenham since the mid-nineties partnership of Teddy Sheringham and Jürgen Klinsmann.

Bottom Line
The bottom line is that Berbatov is not available and simply wouldn't be welcome.  Of the two remaining players Keane was more of a fan favourite - but perhaps was reaching a tipping point in career terms.  Keane's time at Liverpool to date does not suggest that he has twenty league goals in a season to come, and that maybe 2007/8 was his peak.  Defoe would be the cheapest and obviously most available player to purchase (he would still require Premier League permission to return after only a year) - but is he what Spurs need?  Would a Heskey, Crouch or Carew type target man be a better option?

If Spurs could have kept one of the three then I think that Keane would have had the best influence on the club and Spurs would not have fallen so far with him available to motivate the team and keep the supply routes between midfield and attack open.  Berbatov and Defoe are more selfish players, Berbatov would have been little use in a relegation scrap and Defoe doesn't get his head up often enough to assess options when there is even a half chance available.

* Calling all Tottenham fans. Who would you rather have seen Spurs hang on to, Berbatov, Keane or Defoe?  And given the cash which of the three (if any) would you like to see brought back to White Hart Lane?  I’d love to hear from you.