Peter Crouch returns to Spurs after 9 years away.

It’s a sometimes-forgotten fact that the big man started out at Spurs, leaving for QPR for £60,000 in July 2000.  It was considered a surprise when George Graham sold him as youth game reports indicated that the 6’7″ striker was showing improvement and was highly rated.

Dismissed early on in his career for his ‘beanpole-like’ appearance, Crouch was successful in two twelve month spells at QPR and Portsmouth in the First Division before moving for £5m to Aston Villa, £2m to Southampton, £7m to Liverpool and £9m back to Portsmouth.  The return to Tottenham for the same fee makes it seven transfers in nine years.

Crouch is not a player who has yet found a home and at 28 he must be just about ready to settle.  But the initial reception from Spurs fans online is somewhat mixed.

I find Crouch a fascinating player, one that is capable of producing some great moments.  He isn’t a 20 goal a season man (he was Liverpool’s top scorer in 2006/7 with 18 – only half of them in the league).  But outside of a dismal period at Aston Villa (he played for three managers in three seasons) he is the sort of player who will net you 10 goals a season and contribute with his hold up play.

The most important factor in this move might be the presence of Harry Redknapp and Jermaine Defoe.  This is the third time Redknapp has signed him in his career and last season he struck up a strong partnership with Defoe at Portsmouth.

He is an effective player when he’s on and very different to the likes of Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent – two players that Redknapp is set to ship out of White Hart Lane.  Crouch would not be my first choice but perhaps he’ll fit in at Tottenham and silence the doubters.