Tottenham Hotspur let Ismail Azzaoui leave the club in 2016.
Tottenham Hotspur have had a number of exciting talents over the years, with varying levels of success as their development continued.
Harry Kane became the leading light from the Spurs youth ranks, whilst Japhet Tanganga and Harry Winks have emerged whilst Troy Parrott looks set to follow suit.
Others had to move on though; Andros Townsend, Tom Carroll, Alex Pritchard and Josh Onomah all left the club despite being tipped for stardom at one time or another.
Yet in 2015, Spurs made a decision that left some fans baffled; they sold young winger Ismail Azzaoui to Wolfsburg despite him being touted for a big future.
The Belgian had arrived from Anderlecht in 2014, and impressed during his brief time with Spurs, being named Player of the Tournament at the National Under-21 Tournament in France.
At 17, Azzaoui was playing Under-21 football for Spurs, and was even named by The Guardian as one of the top 50 young players in the world after making his move to Wolfsburg.
When Spurs sold Azzaoui, fans took to Twitter to rage about the decision; some were ‘gutted’, believing that it was ‘bad business’ and Spurs ‘could regret’ it in the future.
Yet so far, Azzaoui hasn’t really proven those fans right. The 22-year-old hasn’t made a single first-team appearance for Wolfsburg this season, with knee injuries stunting his development over the years.
Azzaoui missed the entirety of the 2018-19 season, and his high since leaving Spurs has been five goals and six assists on loan at Dutch club Willem II.
There’s still time for Azzaoui to fulfil his potential, but as things stand, he isn’t making Tottenham pay for letting him for almost five years ago.
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