Bargain hunters: Spurs’ approach under Levy and Pochettino highlighted by £12.5m England stars

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Tottenham Hotspur will have five players in the England squad this evening.

Engalnd take on Slovenia at Wembley Stadium this evening, and there is a chance that we will see four Tottenham Hotspur players in action for the Three Lions.

Gareth Southgate’s men can seal their place at next summer’s World Cup in Russia with a win this evening, and they will be thoroughly expected to get through the qualifying stage unbeaten.

Southgate has a number of selection decisions to make this evening, and he could look to play four of the five Tottenham players called into his squad.

Kieran Trippier, Eric Dier, Harry Winks, Dele Alli and Harry Kane are all in the England squad, though Alli won’t be available tonight, given that he is serving a one-game suspension.

Whilst the England squad is littered with players who have moved on for big fees, such as John Stones, Michael Keane, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Raheem Sterling and ex-Spurs defender Kyle Walker, Tottenham’s quintet come at a bargain price.

Mauricio Pochettino has been the perfect manager to embrace the youth movement at Tottenham, having given first-team opportunities to Winks and Kane, after coming up through the ranks with Spurs – and they head into the England squad having not cost a transfer fee to Spurs.

Trippier, Dier And Alli are further examples of Tottenham’s shrewd business in the transfer market under Daniel Levy’s rule, given that Trippier cost just £3.5million from Burnley in 2015 (The Guardian), Dier cost £4million from Sporting Lisbon in 2014 (BBC Sport), whilst just £5million was spent on Dele Alli in 2015 (Sky Sports).

That means that the five Spurs players in the England squad come in at a combined £12.5million, yet are collectively set to become important England players over the coming years, and would now be worth more than 20 times the amount spent on the quintet.

Spurs should pat themselves on the back for their bargain hunting and youth development under Levy and Pochettino, but also keep going with the same strategy; after all, those five players in the England squad are collectively cheaper than Harry Maguire after his move from Hull City to Leicester, and Spurs have proven over the last three years that there is value in the transfer market.