The 22 ex-Tottenham players who would get Prem winners' medal if Chelsea are stripped of title

· FootballLondon

Mauricio Pochettino has sensationally called for Chelsea to be stripped of their 2016/17 Premier League title and Tottenham to be handed the crown

Mauricio Pochettino claims former side Chelsea should be stripped of their 2016/17 Premier League title triumph. The Argentine reckons in the wake of financial breaches, another of his old clubs, Tottenham, should be awarded the crown instead - so let's take a look at the 22 players whom he reckons should have a top-flight winners' medal.

The 2016/17 Premier League season witnessed a relentless two-way scrap for the top-flight title between Chelsea, who were eighth in late September but became reborn after Antonio Conte switched to a back three and Tottenham, who went unbeaten at home for the entire campaign.

Spurs battled on against a Chelsea side that won 13 consecutive matches from October to December, but despite besting their London rivals in a 2-0 January derby win, Pochettino's men fell just short. Chelsea prevailed with 93 points, Spurs finished on 86.

But in July, Chelsea were hit with a £10million fine and a suspended two-window transfer ban as punishment for 74 financial breaches between 2009 and 2022 when Roman Abramovich owned the club. They were also fined £10.75m in March and handed a nine-month academy transfer ban. Three years ago, UEFA fined them for submitting "incomplete financial information" between 2012 and 2019.

Pochettino argues that the various fines and bans imposed on Chelsea are insufficient and they should be forced to hand over their 2016/17 title to Spurs, as it was won during their period of wrongdoing. So if, whilst incredibly unlikely, he were to get his way, football.london examines the 22 stars who would be retrospectively handed Premier League winners' medals.

Leading the team that came second was Harry Kane. The 2016/17 season was one of the England skipper's finest as he bagged 29 league goals in only 30 appearances and landed his second consecutive Premier League Golden Boot.

Kane scored seven goals in the final two games of the season to leapfrog Romelu Lukaku and his feats during that campaign would be worthy of a medal. The same applies to Dele Alli, who retained the PFA Young Player of the Year award after scoring 18 league goals from midfield. His two headers ended Chelsea's 13-game win streak.

Christian Eriksen was also an integral part of this squad, registering a staggering 15 assists, second only to Kevin De Bruyne. Son Heung-Min had his breakout year in 2016/17, becoming the first Asian player to win two Premier League Player of the Month awards in a single season. He scored 14 league goals.

In midfield, Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembele were stalwarts and Spurs boasted a rock-solid defence featuring Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker. They went unbeaten at White Hart Lane the entire league season. Eric Dier made 36 appearances and Ben Davies played 23 times in Rose's absence. Hugo Lloris captained the squad and kept 15 clean sheets.

Of the more fringe players, Vincent Janssen filled in at times for the injured Kane, who struggled with separate ankle injuries. He made 27 appearances, a lot of which were from the bench. Moussa Sissoko played 25 times and Harry Winks made 21 appearances.

Six more stars would be retrospectively handed medals in Pochettino's dream world, with Kieran Trippier, Erik Lamela, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, Kevin Wimmer, Michel Vorm and Josh Onomah all making at least five appearances. This brings the total to 22, with only Davies still employed by Tottenham.

The 22 ex-Tottenham stars who would get a winners' medal

- Dele Alli - Christian Eriksen - Eric Dier - Victor Wanyama - Hugo Lloris - Son Heung-min - Jan Vertonghen - Kyle Walker - Harry Kane - Mousa Dembele - Toby Alderweireld - Vincent Janssen - Moussa Sissoko - Ben Davies - Harry Winks - Danny Rose - Kieran Trippier - Erik Lamela - Georges-Kevin Nkoudou - Josh Onomah - Kevin Wimmer - Michel Vorm

Read the original

People in this story

Related