2009/10 to 2017/18

Tottenham Hotspur played all nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18 in the Premier League. Their best finish was 2nd, in 2016/17. They didn’t win a major trophy. Over those nine summers they paid £410.5m in transfer fees and took in £355.8m, a net spend of £54.7m. In 115.football they get City’s £900m instead.

Tottenham Hotspur never finished lower than sixth in these nine seasons, and never won the league. Fourth in 2009/10 took them into the Champions League for the first time since it replaced the European Cup. By the end of the period they were genuine contenders: third in 2015/16, second with 86 points in 2016/17, third again in 2017/18. Not one trophy from any of it.

Spurs could find stars; keeping them was the problem. Luka Modrić joined Real Madrid in 2012 and Gareth Bale followed for £85.3m in 2013. That Bale money was spread across Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela and others, with mixed results. Kyle Walker left for Manchester City in 2017.

The 115.football question for Spurs is less about spending than about keeping. With £900m and hindsight, Bale and Modrić stay together, the near misses of 2015/16 and 2016/17 get the extra push they needed, and second place becomes first.