He may have featured just 68 times in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt, but many at White Hart Lane regard Jurgen Klinsmann as a cult hero.

There are plenty of foreign players that have been more successful in the Premier League than the German and others that made more of a difference, but perhaps no-one made a bigger impact in one single season.

Also, few arrivals from overseas have caused as much of stir as Klinsmann did 21 years ago today.

Both the media and fans of English football disliked the striker, who was a part of the West Germany team that knocked England out of Italia '90. Not only that, he was perceived to be a diver, having won a penalty in the final of that tournament against the hosts that owed more to his amateur dramatics than contact from the defender.

The fact that he had moved to Spurs from Monaco in a £2m deal was a surprise in itself. It was reported that Sampdoria and at least two Spanish clubs had courted the World Cup winner's signature, but to the amazement of many, he opted for North London.

He made the switch on the back of the 1994 World Cup in the USA, where defending champions Germany had been disappointingly knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Bulgaria. Yet, Klinsmann did come out of the tournament with some credit on a personal level, having scored five goals during the competition.

"At first I considered going back to Italy. Then I was thinking more and more about Tottenham - a large and prestigious club," the 30-year-old told reporters.

"They gave me the possibility of playing for the championship. It's a challenge for me as the Premier League is one of the best leagues in Europe."

Meanwhile, Spurs manager Ossie Ardiles was excited by the prospect of Klinsmann's potential attacking partnership with the likes of Teddy Sheringham and Nick Barmby.

"Jurgen is a big, big signing. He is one of the best players in the world. Germany as a team did not have a good World Cup, but Jurgen did," said the Argentine boss.

"The signing is something that we have been working on for a long, long time. Going forward we are certainly going to be very, very strong."

His Premier League debut could not have gone much better. Not only did he score in a 4-3 win at Sheffield Wednesday, he marked his first goal in English football by producing a celebration dive, which won over supporters up and down the country.

That was the first of 29 goals during the 1994-95 campaign as Tottenham finished seventh and also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Twelve months after his arrival, Klinsmann left for Bayern Munich, but he returned to Spurs during the 1997-98 season on loan from Sampdoria, whom he had joined at the start of that term.

The second time around his career was coming to an end, yet he still scored nine goals - including four in one match against Wimbledon as the Lilywhites successfully fought off the threat of relegation.