Tottenham's £21.9m signing of South Korean forward Son Heung-min could be an exciting piece of business for Spurs, but there's one man who wouldn't have shared in the enthusiasm when he saw the club parading their new No.7.



Aaron Lennon, who has been at White Hart Lane for a decade, would have just thought, 'That's my shirt'.



In a week where Saido Berahino and John Stones have been accused of lacking "loyalty" for trying to force a transfer from their clubs, it's a little reminder that loyalty works two ways - and that players rarely receive it from their employers.



After Lennon's 10 years of service to Tottenham, to give away his number while he's still at the club epitomises the lack of loyalty shown by clubs to players. It's unacceptable, but it's not surprising or rare.



When I first went to Newcastle, I did exactly the same thing without even knowing it. I was in the boardroom at St James's Park and they asked me what number I wanted and told me which ones were available. I think it was 18, 25 and 7. Bobby Robson said, "I want you to wear No.7" and I said OK, but it turned out it was Rob Lee's number, and he was still at the club. Rob was fine with me - he was the ultimate pro - but he wasn't happy about the situation. It wasn't until later in my career that I realised what had happened.



Of course, things went full circle a decade later when the same fate befell me at Tottenham. I was on loan at Aston Villa, but still a Spurs player, and they gave my number 8 shirt to Scott Parker. I was watching Spurs on TV when I saw him wearing it. I called Tottenham straight away and spoke to the one of the club officials. Without going into detail, it wasn't a polite conversation. I told them I thought it was disrespectful, especially when I'd been team captain just 18 months earlier.



Not only was I angry, it's embarrassing. My family and friends were ringing me and asking, 'Why is he wearing your number?'



People might think, 'It's only a number', but it's more than that. It's your identity. Your number represents you, and when it's taken off you and given away while you're still at the club, it's the ultimate kick in the teeth.



Players see this stuff happening all the time, so is it any wonder that Stones and Berahino are putting their own interests first?



I returned to Tottenham and was given a different number, but the club's treatment of me didn't improve. Around the time Andre Villas-Boas became manager I went to a summer training camp in America. But when I got back, to my horror, I found that all my kit had been moved into the reserve team changing room. I was told I wasn't allowed in the first team dressing room anymore. The thing that hurt most was the sneaky way it was done. I didn't have much contact with AVB afterwards, aside from the odd chat in the canteen where he'd show a brief bit of concern for how I was getting on. He was OK, but it just illustrates that clubs aren't setting a good example when it comes to loyalty.



I wasn't the kind of player to make a fuss. That's probably why some of the senior players at Spurs spoke to the chairman and AVB to say they weren't happy about it, but of course it made no difference. Aaron Lennon was one of those players that supported me at the time; now the same thing is happening to him.









































View photos Jermaine Jenas More

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