In Focus: Tottenham’s Premier League legends from Bale to King

Tottenham now sit firmly among the Premier League’s elite clubs — but it was not always that way.

Spurs spent much of the 90s and early 2000s languishing in mid-table before consistently challenging for the top four over the last decade.

However, supporters in N17 have still enjoyed watching plenty of iconic stars pull on a white shirt during that time.

As the new season draws into view, LiveScore take a look at five Tottenham players who have secured legendary status in North London.

Teddy Sheringham

Outside of Haringey, Teddy Sheringham is most famous for his stoppage-time strike in the 1999 Champions League final for Manchester United.

But the forward played his best football at Tottenham, starring across two spells that yielded 124 goals in 277 appearances.

Though he never lifted a trophy at White Hart Lane, Sheringham’s sublime movement, remarkable footballing brain and penalty box prowess saw him win the Premier League Golden Boot in 1992-93 and Spurs’ Player of the Year award in 1994-95.

There have been few better support strikers in English football over the last 30 years.

Gareth Bale

Former Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is credited with transforming Gareth Bale’s career.

The Welsh star was an attacking left-back in his formative years, before being moved further forward by his old manager.

And Redknapp revealed how he toughened up the former Southampton youngster in 2013.

He said: “Gareth seemed too soft to be a defender so we decided to try him further forward.

“He was always getting a little knock in training too. He’d go down then limp off and I always thought the physios made too much fuss of him.

“It was the same pattern every morning — Gareth would tumble and stay there and they’d all go running over. In the end I told them just to leave him alone.

“Gareth got up, got on with it and got better and better. It was all about building up his confidence.”

The rest is history. Bale scored 26 goals in 44 games during a sensational 2012-13 campaign, earning a world-record £85.3million to Real Madrid.

He has gone on to win countless trophies since — but the Cardiff native was undoubtedly forged in North London.

Ledley King

Arguably no player has put their body on the line for Tottenham like Ledley King.

The one-club man has a special place in the hearts of Spurs’ fans for his desperation to play every minute possible — despite a debilitating knee injury that hampered him throughout his career.

Remarkably, he still racked up 323 appearances across 14 seasons, captaining the North Londoners from 2005 until his retirement in 2012 and winning the League Cup in 2008.

Famously unable to train between matches, King could have been one of England’s greatest centre-backs without his injury woes but still deserves immense credit for squeezing every drop from a challenging career.

Heung-Min Son

Tottenham have finished in the top four on five occasions since 2015 — and much of that success is thanks to South Korean superstar Heung-Min Son.

The 29-year-old became the most expensive Asian player of all time when he arrived from Bayer Leverkusen for £22m seven years ago, though few could have anticipated the seismic impact he would have in North London.

Spurs’ No7 has scored 131 times in 325 games and is just seven strikes short of reaching 100 Premier League goals for the club.

It is unthinkable that he will not pass that milestone after winning the division’s Golden Boot last term with 23 strikes in 35 league matches — partly due to his telepathic relationship with fellow frontman Harry Kane.

Son continues to go from strength to strength at Tottenham and will be a key figure in Antonio Conte’s revolution over the coming seasons.

Harry Kane

Supporters love nothing more than a homegrown hero — and Kane fits that description in every regard.

The Walthamstow native emerged from Spurs’ academy in 2010 and has developed into one of the most devastating centre-forwards in world football.

He is currently second in the club’s all-time top scorers list with a staggering 248 goals in 386 appearances, also winning the Premier League Golden Boot on three occasions.

But to only focus on Kane’s goalscoring prowess would be to do him a disservice — the 28-year-old is as effective when spraying passes from deeper positions as he is from inside the box.

Spurs’ iconic attacker registered more top-flight assists than anyone else in 2020-21 (14), while also finding the net 23 times in the league that year.