Michael was set to lead us into a memorable campaign of Champions League football in 2010-11 before disaster struck just five games into that season.
He suffered knee and ankle injuries making only his second senior England appearance in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria at Wembley.
It forced him to sit out three months of our season as we battled at the top of the Premier League and qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in our history.
Of course, he returned better than ever in November and went on to make 32 appearances in all competitions, and proudly led the team out at the San Siro - the memorable win against AC Milan - and the Bernabeu.Michael capped an outstanding 2009-10 campaign with an initial call into England's provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup and then, following the heartbreak of missing out, being called back into the 23 following injury to Rio Ferdinand.
Many pundits believed 'Daws' should have been in the 23 anyway after playing a key role as we finished fourth in the Premier League.
Despite not featuring at the tournament in South Africa, Michael finally won his first senior international cap in a friendly with Hungary at Wembley in August, 2010.
Ever-reliable, Michael become one of the most important players in Harry Redknapp's side and captained the side for much of the 2009/10 campaign.
Laid low by an Achilles problem at the start of the season, Michael returned for the 9-1 hammering of Wigan in November and missed just one of our next 35 games.
His form earned a number of awards including One Hotspur Player of the Season, Boxholders Player of the Season and Supporters' Clubs Player of the Year.
Michael arrived from Nottingham Forest as a 21-year-old in January, 2005.
The affable Yorkshireman made his name at Nottingham Forest, where he progressed through the ranks to make his debut in 2002 and 91 appearances in total before heading to N17.
After recovering from an initial injury, Michael made his Spurs debut in a 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool at Anfield in April 2005.
For the following two seasons, he was rarely out of the side, establishing an impressive partnership with Ledley King as we finished in the Premier League's top five for two consecutive seasons.
In 2006-07, Michael played in 58 of our 59 competitive games that season, and was awarded the captain's armband for the first time in an FA Cup quarter-final tie with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in March 2007.
Injuries to Ledley meant Daws often found himself playing alongside of various partners for much of the 2007-08 campaign, arguably leading to a dip in form.
This was compounded by the heartbreak of missing out on our famous Carling Cup Final success of February 2008 through an ankle injury.
But following the arrival of Redknapp as manager in October 2008, he quickly re-gained his most consistent form and battled hard to earn the right to be considered as first-choice centre-half alongside evergreen pair King and Jonathan Woodgate
Michael made 28 appearances in 2008-09, scoring twice, picking up the supporters' Team Player of the Year award thanks to his outstanding contribution.
Michael signed a new contract at the Club in January 2010, which will keep him at The Lane until 2015.
