Glenn Hoddle: 'Tottenham Hotspur wasted Gareth Bale money'

Tottenham Hotspur legend Glenn Hoddle has claimed that his former club wasted half of the £85m transfer fee that they received for Gareth Bale.

Real Madrid signed the midfielder in the summer of 2013 after they paid Spurs a world-record fee to take the Welsh international to Spain.

Tottenham used the money generated from Bale's sale to sign seven players but, after finishing fifth in the Premier League last season, Hoddle believes that the funds should have been invested more wisely.

"The opportunity to build a good Spurs squad after the Gareth Bale sale was there. The money came in but it was ludicrous to buy seven players that had absolutely no Premier League experience," Hoddle told Kicca.

"The players Spurs bought after selling Bale just didn't settle quickly enough. Some have to a degree but there were too many that didn't.

"At the end of the day 50 per cent of the Bale money was wasted."

Erik Lamela, Paulinho, Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches and Christian Eriksen were the seven players who arrived at White Hart Lane following Bale's departure.