10 Things you need to know about Spurs target Diego Forlan

The latest striker to be linked with Spurs is former Manchester United man Diego Forlan. Much maligned after his time in England, the Uruguayan has since made a name for himself in Spain, where he was even entrusted with the task of replacing Fernando Torres when he left for Liverpool.

Here's your refresher course on the man who left England a loser, but could return a hero:

1) Diego Forlan Corazzo was born on May 19th, 1979 in Montevideo, Uruguay. His nickname is Cachabacha, after a popular fictional witch.

2) He comes from good footballing stock. Diego's dad, Pablo Forlan, played for Uruguay in the 1966 World Cup, while his grandfather Juan Carlos Corazzo was played for Argentinean side Independiente.

3) His first love was tennis, but after his sister Alejandra was involved in a serious car crash that killed her boyfriend and left her in hospital for five months, Diego decided to follow in his father's footsteps. After playing for local youth club Danubio FC, he wound up at his granddad's old club Independiente.

4) Manchester United signed him for a shade under £7m in January 2002. He made his league debut on January 29th against Bolton, but famously found it hard to adjust to the Premier League. Diego didn't score his first goal for the Reds until he converted this penalty in a Champions League tie with Maccabi Haifa some EIGHT months later.

5) He went on to score just 17 goals from 95 appearances in all competitions for Manchester United, and was eventually sold to Spanish side Villareal in the summer of 2004, following the arrival of Wayne Rooney at Old Trafford.

6) On the rare occasions he did score for Manchester United, Diego became famous for whipping his shirt off to celebrate. He did this after scoring against Southampton in 2002, but comically couldn't get his shirt back on before the game re-started, leading to these farcical few minutes in which he ran around Old Trafford topless.

7) He looked like a completely different player in La Liga, scoring 25 goals in his first season to become not just the division's top scorer, but also the joint winner of European Golden Boot award (shared with Thierry Henry).

8) He eventually scored 59 goals in 125 appearances for Villareal before becoming Fernando Torres' replacement at Atletico Madrid last season in a massive 21m Euros deal. He enjoyed a successful first season, scoring 23 goals in 53 games, but was part of the team that lost to Bolton in the UEFA Cup.

9) He made his debut for the Uruguayan national side in 2002 and scored against Senegal in the World Cup later that year. He's since won 48 caps and scored 26 goals - although he missed a crucial penalty in the shoot out that decided the 2007 Copa America semi-final against Brazil.

10) If Spurs do end up splashing the cash on him, then they'll be praying that they get this Deigo Forlan, as opposed to the Man United version: