The now-experienced full-back is currently starring in the top-flight of Spanish football.
Tottenham Hotspur have brought through some fantastic players from their academy system over the years, perhaps most notably England captain Harry Kane.
Ange Postecoglou will be hoping that he can uncover some new stars from the U21s over the years to come, whilst looking to get the best out of current first-team academy graduate Ollie Skipp.
Spurs, however, have not always had the best of luck with their decision-making on talented youngsters at the club, as they fumbled impressive left-back Yuri Berchiche back in 2010.
Yuri Berchiche’s time in England
The Spanish defender arrived in England on a free transfer from Athletic Bilbao in the summer of 2007 to link up with the club’s academy teams.
After 18 months in the youth set-up, the Lilywhites sent him out on loan to Cheltenham in League One for the second half of the 2008/09 campaign.
The left-footed whiz made seven appearances in the third tier of English football before being sent out on loan to Real Valladolid B for the 2009/10 season, where he played one match in La Liga for their first-team.
Berchiche seemingly did not do enough in those two loan spells to convince Spurs that he had the potential to develop into an option for their senior squad.
Daniel Levy released the 20-year-old left-back in the summer of 2010, three years after his move to Tottenham, and he has gone on to enjoy an excellent career.
Levy’s decision to part ways with the young gem has turned out to be a howler, particularly when you consider that Berchiche was later sold for a whopping £18m.
Yuri Berchiche’s soaring value
The full-back spent two years with Real Union and signed for Real Sociedad in the summer of 2012, where he registered 11 assists in 88 appearances in all competitions.
His displays for the Spanish side eventually earned him an eye-catching transfer to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017 in a €16m (£13.6m) deal.
The French club’s chairman and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi cited the defender’s “excellent” performances in LaLiga as one of the reasons why they swooped for his services.
| 2016/17 LaLiga | Yuri Berchiche |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 35 |
| Goals | 3 |
| Assists | 2 |
| Tackles per game | 2.2 |
| Interceptions per game | 1.8 |
| Stats via Sofascore | |
Berchiche produced two goals and four assists in 32 appearances in all competitions for PSG in what turned out to be his only season in France.
Athletic Bilbao, who he joined Spurs from as a teenager, splashed out a fee of €20m (£17m), with a possible extra €5m (£4.3m) in add-ons, to sign him ahead of the 2018/19 campaign.
That £17m fee, that could have increased to more than £21m, illustrates the howler Tottenham had with the defender as they moved him on before he had a chance to realise his potential, which suggests that Levy fumbled a promising talent in 2010.
They could have developed him into a first-team option or a valuable asset, to sell, had they kept faith in Berchiche and sent him out on more loans to gain valuable minutes on the pitch.
The now-34-year-old left-back has gone on to rack up 14 goals and 16 assists in 186 matches for Spanish top-flight side Athletic Bilbao and may look back on his release from Spurs as a minor blip in what has become a very respectable career.
