David Pleat reveals his two favourite signings during his time at the club

Former long-term Tottenham Hotspur scout and Director of Football David Pleat has an association with the club over four decades. He has had a pretty undeniable influence on the come, bringing many top players to North London, including a number of unearthed gems, such as Dele Alli and Heung Min-Son.

Out of all of those top players, Pleat has named two in particular that stood out for him. Speaking on The View From The Lane podcast, he was asked which signings he was most proud of, and immediately responded with: ““I was very happy to bring in Jermain Defoe, and I was very happy to bring in Mr Keane from Leeds United.

The last one before I left and came back again was the goalkeeper, [Paul] Robinson, he went on to play for England. In more recent times, Dele Alli, I watched Son, I watched Eriksen twice in Holland.”

It is absolutely right that Pleat should feel happy with himself with those signings. Keane had scored 13 goals in 46 Premier League games for Leeds United, and only four in 28 the season before Spurs signed him. He would go onto score 91 Premier League goals in 238 games for the club alone, either side of a six month spell at Liverpool. The foresight from Pleat to see the goalscoring potential in him, cannot be overstated.

The story with Defoe is actually pretty similar. Although he had scored 11 goals in 19 Championship games when he joined the club midway through the 03/04 season, he had only notched eight goals in 38 Premier League games the season before. He would score just one fewer in half a season at Spurs, scoring seven goals in 15 Premier League games across his first six months at the club.

Like Keane, Defoe scored exactly 91 Premier League goals in Lilywhite, doing so in 276 appearances. Both players would score over 100 Premier League goals across their careers in England. From 2004-2023, Tottenham Hotspur really had at least one of Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe, and Harry Kane at the club

On the note of trying to unearth hidden gems, Pleat had recommended the club sign Jarrod Bowen when he was at Hull in the Championship, as well as Ollie Watkins from Exeter City, seeing the potential in a player that had not then even played above League Two. He had recommended the club sign a 16-year old James Maddison, too, ten years before he eventually joined the club in the summer of 2023.